Breathe
by Cynik
Summary: It's true what they say, you are your worst enemy- and everyone's afraid of insanity. Psychedelic, twisted; a personal trickster. Even with your friends, your conscience is something you fight alone- But maybe he's not as much a Pegasus as he thought- even if he did survive a strike from Hades. Because no one is safe from insanity. So lie down, just relax and breathe...
1. Torridity

**an: since i was pretty unhappy with how the story was going, i have decided to reboot the story itself...i hope that it turns out better this time. so basically, this is set after canon, but what i've done is that all the happenings of canon were all in one year, rather than five. it's set in the present (2010's) and has nothing to do with saint seiya omega. i hope it's good! EDIT: due to my fickle-ness, chapters may be edited and updated at random. it might be a little annoying, but it's all for the best, right? okay**

The night was so quiet. Not a single sound was to be heard- in fact, if you listened closely, you could hear the stars glittering. Not a sound could be heard but the heaving breaths of an injured soldier. His head was heavy, and the coldness of the air was like a knife in his lungs. Blood was splattered on the ground like starbursts, and tiny fragments of silver metal were scattered over the darkened stone like stars. Long, graceful strands of lilac hair floated through the air, following behind a beautiful young woman in a flowing white dress.

"You're an amazing fighter, Seiya. Please do fight for me forever,"

The Pegasus saint didn't reply, his expression was blank. Saori sat on the fallen pillar next to him. She tilted her head, watching her saint.

"Seiya?"

He raised his head, and looked her in the eyes. He always seemed so noble. So godlike. But like this, he was what he truly was. Just a boy. Neither less or more human than any other person. He sighed, and shut his eyes slowly.

"Saori...I have a question," he said softly. "What would happen...if I stopped fighting?"

Saori had a look of confusion on her face. She bit her lip. "You don't mean...?"

Seiya smiled. "No, I'm not betraying you or anything. I'm just curious as to what would happen,"

Saori paused for a moment. "Well, the world would most likely fall into eternal peril," she muttered. "We're a little bit dependant on you- but I think you knew that," she chuckled.

Seiya looked away. Saori eyed him curiously.

"What are you thinking about?"

Seiya held his knees to his chest, and looked down shamefully. "I feel like...I want to do something different...like...something inside me doesn't want to be a saint anymore,"

Saori seemed concerned with what he said. She could only wonder what could've triggered something like this. She inched closer to him, and gently stroked his back.

"Just a weird feeling inside...I can't explain it..." he continued. "It makes me want to stop being a saint...I don't know why..."

Saori seemed shocked with those words he said.

Seiya looked up to the sky. The same one he'd seen for his entire life. The stars glittering, and watching over the earth. His eyes stung, and tears welled in the corners, as his breath became slightly unstable and rapid.

"Hey! Don't cry!" Saori held him tighter. "...maybe I could be able to help you..."

Seiya smiled. "You don't need to help me...really," he tried his best to hold his tears back. "I'm just messed up..." He pulled himself up, and slowly wandered off into the night.

Saori watched him. 'His cosmos always felt so warm and bright...but something's wrong...but I can't think of anything that could make it feel so cold and dark...'

It seemed like decades- no, centuries, since Seiya had begun his journeys with his fellow saints. No matter how evil, monstrous, powerful, or heartless the foe was, justice would always prevail in the end. From the very beginning, with Ikki's anger, unleashing the black saints to wreak havoc, to the ruler of the underworld himself, Hades. The bronze saints were nearly indestructable now. The defenders of the earth, you could say. And what an unlikely leader, too- Seiya was the youngest, lightest, and shortest of all the saints, yet behind all of that, he was reaching the point where people were beginning to refer to him as 'the saint'. And while he was proud of himself, he never got a big head about it. He was always so modest- especially in comparison to the notoriously cocky gold saints. Some people even reckoned that he'd rather give all this fame to someone else. He often would avoid situations where he'd receive too much praise- from what people could see, he hated being treated like royalty. If he absolutely had to be a king, he'd be a free man. One without followers, or anything to rule over- and just be known as someone reliable and pure-hearted; something he had said himself.

But being a teenager, Seiya had many unresolved personal issues of his own, regarding beliefs, sexual orientation, the future, relationships, the usual things. But something that was somewhat unexpected was definitely his want to break free from his life as a saint. Nobody would expect him to think something like that- not even himself. But like he would always say- 'Everything happens for a reason.' While he never displayed much angst or something of the sort, it was still known that he would sometimes spend a lot of time by himself. Thinking, or maybe even just enjoying the quiet and zoning out.

Maybe people were imagining it, but since he woke up from the coma Hades had put him in, he had become very emotionally unstable, bursting into uncontrollable anger, tears, laughter, or anything else. It certainly was curious, but nobody said anything- because really, the last thing they wanted to do was set off someone who couldn't control their emotions.

The morning was clear. Ever since Hades was killed off, the weather itself had become much more pleasant. There would be a gentle rain in between the clear warmth of day every now and then, but there never seemed to be many violent storms like before. Everything had become so peaceful, suddenly. It was a good thing, too- the saints had been waiting for their well-earned break, and they certainly got it. All of them had been thinking about their own problems like Seiya was- it was just something that teenagers do; nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hyoga! Pass the melon!" The green haired boy shouted, skidding to a halt, scratching behind his head.

"Why would you want it anyway? And you dare take property from the Melon King?" Hyoga shouted back, proudly holding an oversized watermelon over his head.

They all seemed to have changed since the Hades drama, in fact. Shiryu had finally learned to loosen up occasionally, Hyoga wasn't as antisocial as before, and some people even said that some of Seiya's sense of humor had rubbed off on him, Shun had certainly become much tougher, and Ikki had finally learned that it was okay to show emotion. Everyone seemed to be getting on quite well with each other, and it was probably the best few months that they had ever had. It really did seem like even ten years had passed since it all happened, but really, it hadn't been long at all. Only a year had passed, and really...it was pretty impossible to believe. None of them were even 17 yet.

"What is with you and melons, anyway?" Ikki yelled at the Siberian boy.

"Tch, you wouldn't know how special melons are if it fell on your head and gave your skull a compound fracture," Hyoga scoffed.

Seiya was sitting quietly under the shade of a tree, watching the waves. He always found it strange that he adored the sight and sound of the ocean, but hated swimming and the feeling of water. The sand was warm. It felt like sitting on sunshine. He smiled to himself watching the others kick water at each other, and Hyoga mucking around with that bloody watermelon.

He pulled himself up, and dusted off his jeans. He felt somewhat uneasy. He didn't know exactly why, though. He brushed it off as just his hormones going spastic or something of the sort- it was expected for a young man his age. After maybe 5 minutes of wandering across the beach, it was becoming hard to ignore. Something was wrong. He felt lightheaded...and his vision blurred slightly. All sounds seemed to fade away, as a cold wave rushed through his body. He felt himself lose balance for a second, and saw color fade out of the sky. He shut his eyes tight, and shook his head violently, and upon reopening his eyes, everything had returned back to normal. He seemed nervous now. It couldn't have been something serious...no...it was just the heat. Just the heat. He looked back at the others still mucking around. Nobody would notice if he just snuck away for a few minutes.

The last time he fought wearing his cloth was exactly 3 weeks ago. He remembered saying something odd to Saori. Something about...a potential loss in faith in his sainthood. He kept thinking about what he had said, as he wandered further away from the others. He felt slightly nauseaus, but he figured it would pass eventually. He seemed pretty relaxed after maybe 20 seconds, quietly humming some old rockabilly song to himself. With so few fights these days, he found it much easier to focus on other things. He finally found the time to practice playing his guitar, and he was becoming quite good, too. He sometimes even fantasized about starting a band. But he knew he wouldn't have the guts to do that- he couldn't even play in front of the others without his stomach churning and his face going pale.

But just being able to just peacefull walk along the shore was great. He suddenly felt an uneasy tingling in his back, which dropped into his stomach, like someone was following him. He quickly twisted around to check...nobody seemed to be there. He kept staring behind himself for a few more seconds, then returned to walking. But it felt difficult to relax again. His legs trembled slightly, and his skin felt strangely tender. Then a faint breath, like a whisper sounded right next to his ear. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and twisted around at lightning speed, causing himself to fall onto the sand on his backside. He looked in every direction quicker than the eye, trying to make sure nothing was following him. He felt himself break out into a cold sweat, and he felt his heart pound against his ribcage, like it was trying to break free. He slowly and unsteadily pulled himself off the sand. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to wander off. His mouth felt dry. He screwed his face up in disgust. What an awful feeling. It was like taking a mouthful of vinegar. He was probably dehydrated, he thought, and he slowly made his way back up the beach.

He quickly caught on to the laziness of his legs. They felt weak- wobbly, almost. He found himself often tripping, frustrating him. He put his hand up to his forehead to block out the sunlight that was scorching his face, as he slowly made out the sounds of his friends in the distance. Hyoga dropped his watermelon onto the sand with a thud, as Seiya caught his attention.

"Seiya! There you are, you wandered off!" Hyoga grinned, unaware that Shun had snatched his watermelon from him.

"I'm not feeling too well...I think I'm just gonna go and take a nap or somethin'..." Seiya called out to Hyoga, unsteadily walking up to the shade of the palm trees. He looked back as he heard footsteps quickly following him.

"Well, if you're feeling under the weather, maybe I can get you something?" Hyoga smiled. "Hungry? Thirsty, maybe? Tired?"

"Hyoga, relax," Seiya chuckled. "I think I'm well enough to take care of myself. But thanks for offering, anyway," he kicked off his sneakers, quickly took a drink from his water bottle, and lay down on his side.

"Eh, all right. I think we're heading back in about 45 minutes anyway," Hyoga muttered, walking back down. His eyes widened in anger at the sight of Shun holding his melon.

"Hey, you green-furred bastard, gimme that back!" he shouted, running after Shun.

"Finders keepers, Hyoga!" Shun laughed, sprinting off, with Hyoga hot on his heels.

Seiya snickered. His life was tough and unforgiving, but he still had the best friends he ever had by his side no matter what. He shut his eyes, and drifted off into a light sleep, somewhat bothered by the burning sensation he felt in his eyes...


	2. Speak to Me

**an: god its about freaking time i did an update. sorry, i've just moved house, changed schools, been loaded with work, yeah. i was also battling a monstrous writing block, but i think i've gotten something decent. i hope this is okay ehheh**

_"You want to live, so why don't you?" the gentle, echoing voice called out in the shadows._

_"Who are you?" I called out in response. It was hard to speak- like something was keeping my mouth frozen._

_"Who are you?"_

He woke with a jolt, breathing heavily, and tossing his eyes to opposite ends of his surroundings to try and reassure himself. He felt lightheaded, and maybe even a slight headache had come on too. He stared down at his hands, his vision slipping in and out of focus as his lungs clawed at the air insanely, trying to inhale slowly. He felt sweat creep down his neck in little beads, and his legs had lost all feeling, making him lightly shake with disturbance.

"That was some nightmare you were having," chuckled a familiar voice.

Seiya looked up to see a pair of friendly sea-green eyes looking back at him. Shun was sitting at his side, smiling. Seiya still hadn't a clue what was going on or where he was, but seeing Shun had reassured him, and eased him slightly.

"What...what happened?" Seiya breathed, holding his pounding head.

"You were having a nightmare; I told you," Shun grinned. "You look pretty freaked out. I think you just need to lie quietly for a moment and just get yourself together. If you're wondering where you are, we had to carry you back home because you weren't waking up. Tatsumi drove us back to the mansion, and then around halfway there, you starting having a fit in the car,"

Seiya sighed and fell back down onto the pillow, still gasping for breath. He eyed the small digital clock sitting on the tiny table beside him- 5:36 pm. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and shut his eyes. Upon doing so, he winced. His eyes were burning- like someone had kicked dust into them. He groaned and let his head fall onto its side. Shun gently placed his hand onto Seiya's forehead.

"God damn, you're burning up," he exclaimed. "Maybe I should just get Hyoga to sit next to you for a couple of minutes- because if we get the fan, Tatsumi will complain about 'wasting electricity', and I'm sure as hell not going back and forth to keep wetting a towel that will probably heat up after 5 seconds," he chuckled.

Seiya smirked. "Shun, how thoughtful of you," he said sarcastically.

Shun laughed. "I'm kidding. I'll go get an ice pack and a glass of water. Don't go anywhere- not that you'd probably want to- or even be able to," Shun continued as he walked out of the room.

Shun made his way downstairs, and was greeted by an odd scene- this was fairly normal for this household, though. Hyoga had been trying to put whole watermelons into the meat grinder, resulting in a massive puddle of pale-red juice under his feet, a broken meat grinder with half a watermelon lodged inside it, and Tatsumi shooting his mouth off in fury.

"Seiya's running a fever, I need the ice pack," Shun called out to Hyoga, who was trying his best to listen to his friend over Tatsumi's endless rambling. He wandered over to the freezer with Tatsumi following close behind.

"It's not in there," Hyoga shouted over the furious butler. "And I'd love to help you find it, but I'm stuck in a...fruity situation," he grinned at his awful pun, nudging Tatsumi with his elbow, trying to get him to pick up on how unbearably lame the joke was. Shun rolled his eyes.

Seiya held his head tighter. He had somehow gotten an even worse headache in the past 5 minutes, and it wasn't a bearable one either- it was something like the feeling you'd get if a shard of glass was slowly pushed into your skull, and twisted around- and maybe the glass was superheated. He stared up to the ceiling, feeling too weak to even change positions. He wouldn't have hated this feeling as much if it wasn't so damn dry. So dry.

"I'm not...gonna give in to this crap..." he murmured, tilting his head forward. An audible crack was heard as he attempted to pull himself up from the sweat-soaked sheets. He twisted his waist around to the edge of the bed, and gently placed his feet on the ground. He shut his eyes slowly, and took a deep breath. The coolness of the air eased him, and he felt his temperature gradually drop. Lightly clenching his fists, and letting the horrific burning sensation leave his body. He shifted his weight to his feet, and awkwardly lifted himself to standing, before stiffly walking downstairs.

"Something feverish this way comes," Hyoga smiled, catching the sight of Seiya entering the kitchen. "How you going, man?"

"Not well, I need a drink," Seiya muttered, using the wall to support himself. "I'm going to get brain cancer if I don't drink something,"

"There's water, soda in the fridge, something slightly yellow in the freezer, go crazy," Hyoga said, playing with the crank on the meat grinder.

Shun was leaning against the wall with his thumb to his chin. "I'm just worried that his fever won't go down," he sighed. "You should probably take something for it, Seiya,"

"I will, I will, sheesh," Seiya groaned, opening his little orange water bottle.

It hurt slightly to get it down his throat. Everything in his whole body felt parched, burning; intensely hot and dry. He choked and coughed for a moment, water spurting out of his mouth. He wheezed for a moment, and beat his chest with a fist. He jerked an eye open and winced. "Either that went down the wrong hole, or I'm allergic to water,"

He held his head for a moment and lowered his eyebrows and frowned. He could physically feel his head pounding, and his heart was beating in his ears. His eyes felt like crackling fires, and his skin was as dry as stone. His next few attempts at trying to get that damn water down resulted the exact same way as his first attempt.

"I can't," he muttered, tossing the bottle into the sink. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up."

"Dude, I told you to stay in bed," Shun spat. "Though, it does worry me about not being able to drink. It's apparently like one of the first few symptoms of rabies," his eyes widened.

"I don't have rabies, Shun." Seiya rolled his eyes.

A few minutes passed before he started to feel worse. A massive wave of uncontrollable heat has swept through his body like a flamethrower, and his legs began to tremble under his weight. He quickly clutched his head, tighter with each second. He cried out once his legs finally gave in, and he fell to his knees. The sound surrounding him slowly faded into a cold hollowing, and color gradually melted away, leaving behind a surreal grayscale world. His eyelids began to lower, and a funnel of blackness swallowed up his vision.

_"Let me take this."_

Seiya held back a shriek. This hellish pain was spiraling into unbearable levels, and a strange rush shot through his body. A bizarrely familiar voice continued to echo through his mind, almost taunting him. His eyes snapped open, but nothing was seen. Everywhere he looked was pitch black. Had he gone blind? He started to panic, and claw at the ground that seemed to have disappeared. His heart was beating like thunder, until he felt an incredible chill wave through him, and everything began to slow. His headache, gone. The heat, turned to a cold wind. The dryness, to a cool dampness. Something cold and prickly brushed against his neck, and he quickly turned his head to see what it was. He couldn't see anything, nor could he on the other side. But then he suddenly saw something in front of him. Two lights, shining a silver glimmer.

_"What...what's going on?" I tried to speak. My mouth was frozen. I could definitely hear myself, and even feel myself speaking, but my mouth didn't open once._

_These lights drifted towards me gradually, and then I heard echoing footsteps. Were these lights eyes of some kind? I tried to get up and walk, but like my mouth was, my whole body seemed to be unresponsive. Damn. This was starting to get scary as hell. How was I supposed to tell whether this person (or thing) would kill me or not? But it kept walking towards me. I swallowed hard._

_"Don't look so scared," I heard the voice echo. It was so familiar, it was a voice I knew, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "You've been with me longer than you'd expect."_

_"Who the hell are you?" I called out._

_"Tch, calm yourself," it responded. "That's all I ask of you."_

_I slowly made out the outline of a mysterious figure walking towards me. I started to really freak out at this point. I felt like this was someone I knew really, really well. This presence was so familiar, it almost felt like...like...me._

_Then the figure came into visibility. I wasn't wrong. I saw myself, standing there, with a cocky grin. But I didn't look right. I was totally colorless, and all my clothes were black. My whole body was decorated with weird stripes, almost like a tiger's. My hands were clawed, and visible fangs poked out of the corners of my mouth. My eyes were a glowing white-silver, with slit-like pupils. I smiled, exposing more fang-like teeth._

_"You're always nervous, always panicking," My clone smirked. "You're embarrassing me."_

_"Why...wh...huh?" I couldn't even think of anything to say at this point. I could've sworn I was dreaming, but everything was so real. He continued to walk towards me, and he kneeled down, and now we were eye-to-eye. He lifted his clawed hand to my face, and gently trailed his claws down my cheek. They were icy. And so was his smile. I scowled._

_"Don't get so close to me, you're creeping me out..." I muttered. He tilted his head to the side and frowned._

_"That's no way to talk to yourself," he pouted._

_"But...you're not me...I'm me..." I smiled nervously._

_"Well, we live in separate bodies," he said, standing up. "But we're the same person." Strangely enough, it was believable._

_"But...why are you here? And more to the point, where the shit am I?" I was starting to get frustrated._

_He turned his back to me and wandered off. "Tch, questions, questions, so many questions. I haven't the time to answer them all, kid. But I can give you a hint; Maxime nocet, quae videre non possumus."_

_What? It was in Latin, I knew that, but I hadn't a clue what it meant. He kept walking, and soon i couldn't see him any more. My whole body was tingling and cold. I started to feel dizzy...really...dizzy..._

His mind snapped back to consciousness at the sound of sirens blaring, and the familiar raging heat. His whole body was still paralyzed, and he could barely blink. A mask of some sort was covering his nose and mouth, and he could easily make out the sound of a vehicle moving at great speeds. He jerked his eyes to the side, seeing a metal wall covered in weird monitors, wires, and tubes. He could feel air being forced in and out of his lungs- and that was probably a good thing, too. He couldn't breathe alone, his lungs had frozen.

"D-do you think he can hear us?" Hyoga stammered.

"I don't know. Maybe," Shiryu said. "Seiya, if you can hear us, let us know. Do anything to let us know."

Seiya let out a strange, short, choked gasp. His vocal chords didn't respond at all, and he could only just get his throat to make that puny sound.

"You're in an ambulance, in case you're wondering." Shiryu replied.

Seiya felt his chest muscles tighten. He didn't know whether to be relieved, or panicked. In fact, he couldn't think much at all. He could only hear one sentence repeating in his head:

Maxime nocet, quae videre non possumus. What did that mean?


	3. An Animal, Here I am

**an: i seriously don't know if this is going well or not. i'm worried that my idea is too bizarre. then again, i should be proud to be a trail blazer and do something different. i shouldn't care if people don't like it, should i? i should write for myself, not for the approval of others...well enjoy i suppose \m/**

Everything just shot by like a bullet. A glimpse of the night sky, lit by cold, artificial light, and the rattling of trolley wheels. The air he was being forced to inhale was stale, and tasted only of plastic. How he longed to get even a tiny breath of the cool night air. The night sky disappeared under a dark teal ceiling, lit by long rectangular strips of light, and the smell of metal and cough medicine. People were speaking to each other in panicked manners, but he couldn't make out what was being said. Did it matter? All that he knew was that he couldn't move or breathe, and people were shoving him into a hospital. Of course it was a good thing- if they didn't act, he wouldn't have survived. But he knew what would happen. Some 'qualified professional' would simply state that his sudden paralysis 'could be a number of things', but his hallucination? It wasn't often that your conscious mind would be teleported to your unconscious, where you would speak to a seemingly sinister doppelganger of yourself, who feels it's perfectly reasonable to tease you with some stupid Latin riddle. If Seiya's muscles were responsive, he would have sneered. Oh, but any time you'd be sent to some morbid universe either existing somewhere in the far reaches of the universe or your mind, that typically meant that something was up. And of course, Seiya had to be the one to settle things. Be it just a pack of thugs trying to prove a point through senseless violence, or a megalomaniacal God who's so hung up about their place in the food chain that they decide to attempt overthrowing the earth, Seiya always seemed to be the one people turned to. And when it was all over, he was given all the credit. Yet another invisible sneer appeared on his frozen face. He couldn't stand being praised for things he didn't do. In fact, when a villainous being was overthrown, all 5 of the bronze saints would do it together- and Seiya saw this. But in his mind, it was all his friend's doing. He just helped out. He had far more faith in his friends than himself, but no matter what he would say or do- he'd be 'the hero', like it or not.

"He's still breathing, but just barely," one of the doctors exclaimed, strapping something around his arm. The rush of air surrounding him slowed down once they had stopped in a room loaded with hospital beds. He felt a cold, rubbery hand shake his shoulder gently, with a slight squeeze. "Are you alright?"

_'Does it look like I'm alright?' _Seiya would've snapped in response. However, this came out as a pathetic little dry squeak.

They spoke about medical nonsense for some few minutes, before wheeling him off elsewhere. He then found himself staring at a dimly-lit ceiling, accompanied by monotonous beeping, rattling, and so on. His upper back was lifted up from his little trolley- bed, and his shirt was slipped off, along with his sneakers and pants. His skin pricked up at the sharp cold of the metal railing surrounding him, and he wouldn't have been surprised if a comedic little puff of steam shot out from the clash of his superheated body and the icy railing. Sticky little patches connected to wires were pressed onto his skin, and hooked up to some cute little monitor that was caked in wires and dials. It beeped in unison with his heartbeat, and he was slipped into light hospital clothing. Pants that would slide down his waist due to being 2 sizes too big, and a shirt that was so open and airy, he felt like a new romantic all propped up for some corny synth-pop song video from 1982. At a passing 5 minutes, he felt his muscles loosen up, and he then felt relieved at the feeling of air entering and exiting his lungs naturally. But that fever- that damn fever! He was just about ready to pop a gasket in anger at that bloody fever. His head lolled to the side, his eyes half-closed. He nearly smiled weakly when a nurse gently slid a damp sponge over his forehead and chest. Felt good.

He stared up at the ceiling, in some strange dreamy world of his own, completely disregarding the fact that he had just been rushed into hospital, had a morbid hallucination, and something resembling a seizure. In fact, mostly after his strange out-of-body experience, he felt very lightheaded, almost peaceful. It didn't matter that he could potentially die from overheating. A nurse shifting a small trolley caught his attention.

"Hi there," he croaked weakly.

The nurse turned around, she smiled. "It looks like you've gotten a little better," she chirped.

"I gotta ask, is this fever ever gonna go down?"

"Well, we don't know what's causing it yet," she explained. "So we can't be sure if it'll go down or not."

He sighed. The longer it takes for them to find out what's wrong, the longer he'll be in there. And if it ends up being serious, he'll be in even longer- maybe if it's serious enough, he wouldn't be there nor would he be out. Maybe that would be a good thing. He mentally slapped himself at that passing thought.

Rolling over, trying his best not to interrupt the wires hooked up to his chest and arms, he attempted shutting his eyes and waltzing into some peaceful half-asleep state, ignoring the troubled conversations of the doctors and nurses behind him. They kept talking in the exotic language of the medical professional, a beautiful yet bizarre language from a forgotten civilization known as 'med school'. They discussed all sorts of things- defibrillators, inappropriate sinus tachycardia, all sorts of curious pieces of art from their alien culture. But be their conversation long, be it shorter than Tom Cruise, he continued to sleep anyway. Or at least it was something along the lines of a peaceful rest.

_'Maxime nocet, quae videre non possumus. I'm gonna flip my shit if I don't find out what that means.'_

A gentle breeze from the open window washed over him, and the soft warmth of the sun kept him suspended in a rather relaxed state. Oh- and that perpetual overheated pain had finally drifted off elsewhere. It was relieving to feel his body return to its regular temperature. Had it gotten any higher- in fact, could it? He was guessing it to be somewhere much higher than usual, and it couldn't possibly get any higher. That would've killed him.

"Hello?" A gentle girl's voice asked softly.

Seiya rolled over to see who his visitor was, and a smile lit up his face.

"Miho!" he grinned, pulling himself up weakly.

She smiled warmly, and walked towards him slowly. She was holding a small white vase, that was hand painted with little blue and red stars. In the vase sat a bright orange tiger lily. She placed it on the small table that sat beside him. He smiled bashfully.

"This is for you," the girl giggled, holding her hands behind her back. "It was hard to find, but I know it's your favorite flower. And I made the vase for you myself, at the ceramics place,"

"You didn't have to, really!" Seiya chuckled. "But thanks so much,"

"I can see that you're feeling better. From what I heard, you were...it was...really serious...and I was really worried, so I wanted to visit..."

"Miho, I'm fine now, really...!" Seiya smiled nervously.

His ears pricked up at the sound of kids giggling amongst themselves. Of course- Makoto, Jaco, and Akira would've come too. Everywhere Miho went, they seemed to follow eagerly- especially if they were going to see Seiya. They really idolized him- in fact, Seiya once even saw Makoto trying to mimic the Pegasus hand movements, showing off to his friends, claiming that he could definitely be the next Pegasus saint. When he actually tried to launch the 'punch', it didn't work out exactly the way he wanted it to, but Seiya found it cute nothenless.

"Hey, Seiya!" Makoto was practically bouncing up and down. "Are you feeling better? Huh? Are ya?"

"Yes, yes, relax!" Seiya laughed. "I've felt better, but I'm okay. I mean, I can't really get up and 'party like it's 1999', but I'm getting through it all pretty well,"

"Man, we heard you had a total fit!" Makoto squealed, flailing his arms. "And you were burning up! Like the fire dragons in my video game!"

Miho tugged the little boy's ear gently. "Makoto, I think that's enough," she sighed. "Seiya needs his rest."

Makoto pouted, and ran back outside with Jaco and Akira. "Hope ya feel better soon!" he called out.

"He really adores you a lot, Seiya," Miho smiled. "But I should go make sure that they're not misbehaving. So...I guess I should go now..."

"Don't look so sad! This isn't the last time you'll see me," Seiya grinned. "Take care!"

Miho nodded, and began to leave the room, before chasing after the three kids, and shouting at them to not touch the monitors. Seiya chuckled to himself.

And what a peaceful day it was afterwards. He only developed a mild fever in the late afternoon, but otherwise, everything was peaceful, calm, all serenity but the continuous beeping of the monitor beside him. Oh, but just because it was calm didn't mean it was comfortable. He had been in hospital many times before, and not one of those stays were at all comfortable. But, it was all for the best, right? It was either endure a few uncomfortable nights in a hospital, or face the flaming pits of death. And although 'flaming pits of death' sounded much more exciting than a hospital, there was a high chance that a hospital would be a better choice, despite his thrill-seeking nature.

"Maxi...qu-...video possum...what?" he tried to remember the words his eerie shadow spoke, but it seemed to have slipped out of his mind somewhere during the course of the day. The day had flown past, it was already 11:53 pm and currently, not one of the channels on the little TV screen hanging from the ceiling had any decent programs to show. What could he do about that? But if he seeked true entertainment and suspense, oh, he'd get exactly what he wanted soon.

Minutes continued to float past, until it reached hours, finally to 1:43 am. He suspected himself to just doze off sooner or later, but something was keeping him up, but he hadn't a clue what. He kept hallucinating and seeing the shadow creeping in from some crack or crevice in the room. And really, it was a little difficult to imagine, but Seiya had a little bit of an anxiety issue. It was kind of hidden behind all of his heroic victories, and he wasn't likely to even bring it up, but the poor boy was prone to anxiety attacks sometimes. And how he hated it.

"_Don't you wish all that anxiety would just...go away?"_

Seiya's ears perked up. "Yeah..."

_"Maybe you want to feel...stronger? Braver?"_

Seiya's eyes darted across the room. It looked like this voice didn't have a body. "I...I guess..."

_"I think I can help you. But first...do you trust me?"_

Seiya scowled. "How can I? I don't even know who you are..."

"It's me. You know who I am,"

Seiya thought for a moment- that damn phantom had come back to harass him again. He could've easily just agreed to this shadowy boy, but Seiya wasn't the type to do such a thing. Especially considering the outward nature of this phantom.

_"I know it might be hard to trust me. But please do, I know what I'm doing. You'll be thankful. Or...do we have to do this the hard way?"_

His skin crawled at those words. The hard way? He was tempted to just ignore it all, but how could he? It was like being schizophrenic. He couldn't. It was an entity that just decided to stay. But considering the morbid hallucinations and unbearable fever, it wouldn't be smart to even consider ignoring it.

_"You're not planning on trusting me, are you?"_

"Uh...?"

A sharp pain jolted into his head and twisted around. He jerked forward, and felt bizarre sensations of numbness and intense heat flow through him. His surroundings slowly slid into a blur, and his chest and throat tightened, hindering pained shouts. A final rush of warped reality dissolved his remaining consciousness and feeling, and the chilling serenity of nothingness was the only thing he could feel.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," a gruff voice came from him. He raised himself up, rolling his shoulders back, enjoying the feeling of his new body. His eyes, at opening, shone a chilling amber, and visible fangs poked out of the corners of his mouth, in a cold smile. He picked himself up off the tiny hospital bed, and looked down at his build, admiring it. His entire body had taken on a warmer hue, and at close sight, faint black stripes decorated his body. He gripped at the wires connected to his body, and yanked them out forcefully, no pain received. He silently walked towards the door, and thought for a moment. He raised his hand, and looked at it, when an idea sprung into his mind. A deep growl radiated from him, and powerful, sharp claws grew where his nails once were. He suddenly twisted his upper body back, and lunged his arm forward, his newfound claws shattering the door that once stood in front of him. A twisted, fanged grin curled on his face, his amber eyes blazing with intense light.

Voices. He could hear voices. Shouting doctors and nurses, no doubt. He had prepared for this. He put himself into a familiar stance, claws splayed out. A bright, fiery orange aura flickered at his feet, before engulfing his body completely, dancing like a flame. He crinkled his nose into an animal-like snarl, fangs glimmering. The stripes on his body darkened, as he slowly took on the appearance of...a tiger.

The medical workers skidded to a halt at the shattered door, lazily hanging off the hinges. They stared at the bizarre, glowing boy, as deep growls continued to rumble through the room. They were frozen. Their mouths hung open, and what their next move would be, not even they knew.

"C-call the cops..." One of the doctors stuttered. "And maybe the SWAT team too..."

A loud, fierce roar tore through the air, and in a second, he pounced forward towards the terrified workers like a cat.

...

"A tiger?" The officer asked curiously over the blaring sirens, continuing to scribble down the description onto his notepad.

"Y-yeah...a t-tiger...he was growlin', snarlin', an' ev'rythin'. But he was covered in...what kinda looked like fire..." he quivering worker whimpered.

The officer sighed, and adjusted his hat. "Look, I'm not doubting that what you saw was a killer, but I don't believe in the supernatural,"

"But ya shoulda seen 'im! He had fangs! Fangs!" the worker shouted, pointing at his teeth. "An' claws, too!" He swiped his hands around childishly.

The petrified worker continued to ramble on about what he saw. But the sound of these sirens had gotten the attention of someone. Nobody could see her, thankfully. She kept watching the scene as she lurked in the shadows of night, adjusting her hood so that no one could see her face. "I knew this would happen. I just knew it," she gulped, holding her hand to her chest.

Meanwhile, Seiya's possessed body was certainly entertained by what he was seeing. All the shouting, all the drama, all because of him. He was sitting in one of the tall trees, at the very top. He was sitting in a rather cat-like manner, his yellow eyes were shimmering with ecstasy. He grinned, exposing his fierce fangs. He happily licked the remaining blood splatters off his arms and hands.

But where Seiya was, who knew. Some strange, dark ends of his mind, where nothing existed.


	4. Spike

**an: well! i'm sure i've frustrated most of my readers for doing absolutely jack shit for months with this story, but just minutes before i started typing this out, i definitely felt my drive return. so again, apologies for the extreme lack of updates, and hopefully, i'll be able to update more often. but please understand that i'm also trying to focus on school! but i'm trying my best to fight my writing blocks! anyway, i hope this chapter is good, excuse the slight OOC, but this is a key in the plot, but i didn't enjoy writing it. it depressed me a little, to be honest.**

How gruesome, and heartless of the performer of the act. It couldn't be called, or even be compared to human. One responsible of an act of this sort was soulless.

"I think it's time we stopped sitting around, and actually did something," Hyoga paced up and down the room. "This...'thing' could strike again at any second,"

Shun stood up in protest. "Hyoga, we don't even know what this thing is. For all we know, it could be something far more powerful than we could even challenge,"

Seiya's ears perked up. "But since when do we fail to take a swing at stuff? And besides, we need to find out what it is anyway, and we can't do that by crawling under the bed and being scared,"

Everyone was silenced for a moment and took that time to think. "But there's still a risk, Seiya. I've never seen a massacre this brutal," Shiryu replied.

Seiya's face twitched with frustration. "Risk? We're constantly living on the edge, since when have we cared about risk?"

Shiryu gave his shoulder a nudge. "Seiya, use some common sense. Even a warrior needs to think about the repercussions of his acts,"

Seiya stood up angrily. "If you're suggesting that we shouldn't take act soon, then you've lost your fucking mind!" His fists clenched with a snarl.

The other saints eyed each other. "Seiya, control yourself!" Shiryu shouted.

Seiya bared his teeth and took a step back. "Control myself? Control myself?!" he roared. "If you wanna sit here and fuck around, I'll go get that thing by myself!" In an instant, Ikki's fist collided with Seiya's jaw.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ikki snapped. "Since yesterday, you've been acting like a total spaz!" Seiya rubbed his jaw angrily, and eyed Ikki furiously.

Shun's eyes widened. "Hang on a second...something's wrong with him..."

Ikki rolled his eyes. "Damn right, there's something wrong with him,"

"No, there's seriously something wrong..." Shun took a few steps towards the infuriated boy, and stared him in the eyes. "Look at his eyes. That isn't Seiya."

To the other saint's surprise, Shun was right. Where dark eyes would normally be were slit-like obsidian pupils, lying over intense gold irises, that shone with Seiya's anger. "Seiya...hold yourself together for a moment..." Seiya shut his eyes and held his breath. An unnerving 10 seconds passed before he slowly lifted his eyes open again. His eyes had returned to their original state.

Shun blinked rapidly, nervous. "Do you feel okay?"

Seiya let his breath out, and scratched at his head. "My chest hurts."

"Yeah. Something's wrong." Shun sighed.

Anyone that met Seiya wasn't too fond of his impulsive behavior, or bluntness and such. But he was a perfectly normal boy- not a disorder to be seen. Some have said it isn't unnatural for someone to develop disorders over time, but for a healthy minded individual such as Seiya to develop something was somewhat unexpected. But considering the nerve-wrecking and terrifying situations he had been tossed into consecutively, it was understandable. But why Seiya? Was it because he was considered the unofficial 'leader'?

"For the last time, I don't have Dissociative Identity Disorder," Seiya grumbled, arms folded against his chest.

"That's the only thing we can think of," Hyoga muttered. "Maybe you and Saga can hang out now," he chuckled. "DID buddies."

Seiya rested his forehead in the palm of his hand, and groaned. Hyoga shrugged.

"Either that, or you're just stupid," Ikki smirked.

Seiya clenched his fist and looked away. "I already know that..." he said under his breath. Nobody heard him, though.

"Ikki, knock it off," Shun snapped. "I think we can all see that he isn't in a good place,"

"He tried to kill me. Now he gets his, too..."

"Ikki!"

Ikki looked away, scowling.

Seiya hunched over. "I'm obviously not making for a good leader anymore. I'm mentally unstable, useless, stupid..." he hung his head and shut his eyes. "I'm a wreck."

15 minutes passed. For that time, nobody said a thing. Everyone seemed like they had just given up. They didn't even know if Seiya was safe to trust anymore.

Silence was broken like a china plate, as the door creaked open. Saori, greeted by a wave of depression, already knew that something had happened. "Is everything all right?"

"Kill me."

Everyone stared at him. Two words never expected from Seiya had just been spoken. And because of this, nobody could even think of a response...leading to another break of silence.

Saori held her hand over her mouth, shock in her eyes like needles.

The night was hot. Painful. Everyone was disturbed, and the whole house was unnaturally quiet, like someone had just died. Lifelessness swept across the floor and into the air, and even the wind had silenced itself for the death of someone who didn't exist.

"I'm stupid...insane...crazy...put me out of my misery..."

"Seiya, stop it...please..." Saori held Seiya tighter, feeling him quiver softly under her arms. She tried with all her strength to keep her emotions at bay. To show any weakness would send him into mental death. "You're not stupid. Shut up."

"What's wrong with me?"

'There's nothing wrong with you,' Saori wanted to say. But to lie to him, and have him face the result of her lying would cause him even more damage. But she had to say something. "Have you...been having nightmares, recently?" she said softly.

His eyes opened slightly. "Yeah..."

"Can you...describe them?"

Seiya hesitated. "It's dark. And I talk to myself. An evil self. Colorless, cold..." he shuddered. "Sometimes I see fire. Everywhere. I can't see myself."

Saori's breath caught in her throat. She didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. But she didn't have the heart to lie to him either. But maybe telling him the truth could save him. Somehow.

"If only I knew how to solve this...but I promise...soon, we...we will find the answers...trust me," she whispered, choking back her sadness. "Be strong, Seiya." He smiled softly in response.

Beneath the shattered ice trenches of his depression, there was a glimmer of hope -always. But might you have to reach down into the glass pits and have your arm mutilated and drained of life to grab onto it, it didn't matter, because that little piece of hope would heal your wounds and grow, and continue to do so until the icy barriers drifted away from your mind.

The night had reached its peak, and while not a person stirred, neither Saori nor Seiya could even suggest sleep. While Seiya was in a state of spiralling chaos, Saori was far too worried about him to even have the consideration of brushing it off for tomorrow. If she had the chance to stand beside someone in their gloom, she would, even if it costed her life. This was something the two had in common- loyalty was one of the most important things to them. And while Saori was frequently in a position where she couldn't defend her saints, she would give up everything she owned to defend a saint in danger.

He was sitting beside her silently, with his knees up to his forehead, rocking gently, lightly hitting his back on the wall with each rock. She could tell the night was coming to an end, but what excuse was that to leave a sufferer? If saving him from this state meant abandoning a night or two night's sleep, then sleep could wait. She studied him through tired eyes.

"Everyone has a dark side, Seiya. But we are always able to fight it, even if it seems stronger than you are," She comforted him with a gentle voice.

This resonated with Seiya's thoughts. A sigh left him with his response. "I'm the killer, aren't I?"

Saori held Seiya's hand. "There are reasons for everything dark in the world," she began. "But this, on the other hand...this isn't your fault..."

"How is not my fault?" He choked, lifting his head up, pressing his back against the wall. "Lives...I took_ lives_...ones that weren't supposed to be taken..."

"Hades had this planned. You mustn't give in to this_ ever_,"

"Hades?"

"That coma that his sword put you in was all a part of his scheme. I'm not exactly sure of the fine details of it all, but..." she explained, slowly lifting herself up. "It's something he constructed himself as a method of overthrowing his foes."

"...understandable..." Seiya muttered, restraining outbursts of anger or fear. "But I'm literally losing my mind. I'm hallucinating, doing god-awful things I don't even remember doing, I..."

"I know, Seiya. But every disease has a cure. But please, remember," She took his hand and gently lifted him off the ground. "None of this is your fault. You're not crazy, you're not stupid, you're...hurt. But that can be fixed," She smiled. He returned her smile.


	5. Contemplation

**an: well damn this took a while because i'm really bad at everything,,,i'll admit that i'm getting a little impatient due to waiting for the right time to heat things up with FIGHTING AND SCREAMS OF PASSION but the time will come soon and i think that because of where the story's at now i think that will be coming pretty soon yeehaw so uh,,, hey i hope this is a good chapter it took a while because i suck**

"Saori, be strong," she muttered to herself, staring her mirror in the eyes through what little light the unlit room had to offer. She hastily flipped through numerous papers and ancient books that lay lazily over her desk- it had been in a messy state since the whole calamity popped up. Naturally, she would've cleared her desk spotless by now, but there was too much else to worry about at this point- in fact, it wasn't really something to worry about- this was genuine fear.

Strange symbols from ancient times scuttled across the dry, yellowed, and dusty pages of the ancient textbooks. Some she recognized immediately enough to form a sentence or word, some took a moment or two, others left her guessing. But there was to be some information in it all somewhere- a thousand books lined her library, at least one of them would contain even a scrap of useless information about Hades at the least. From her roots, she already knew a fair bit about Hades- some things she had no idea how she knew, but she did. But Hades had always been a secretive person. Saori, who on occasion, would have dreams about past-lives as Athena, would live in the age of myth, and she and the other gods and godesses of Olympus were often put off by how strange Hades was altogether- secretive, spooky, strange. He was lonely, because of this- nobody seemed to really understand him. In fact, Hades wasn't truly _evil_- confused, would be a more suitable word. He resented the others, but didn't see mortals as pathetic or useless. But his resent for the others of Olympus ended up driving him into bitter madness, and began to despise all outside of his own realm.

Hades was intelligent. Very, in fact. He could create beautiful pieces of architecture, and was responsible for the breathtaking gothic work in the Underworld, as well as Elysium's light. But an artist's heart is a sensitive heart. The bitter hatred he developed for the rest ended up driving his imagination and desire to create into a twisted addiction for creating invincible weapons, war machines, and sick torture methods. The most heroic of either the mortal or god worlds would often stand up to Hades in an attempt to put an end to his insanity, and soon, a 'hero' of any kind would be number one on his mental 'kill list'. He had a name for them, too.

She started to sweat. The indecipherable scrawls of text made her uneasy, now it didn't matter what they really said- she expected the worst, and could only see terror in the ambiguous words she read- or at least, tried to read. The illustrations were of varying sorts, that somehow linked in her head- black-stained ink skulls, mythical swords, flickering fires, and mythical beasts. She bit her lip. She traced her finger along a line of text, concentration making her hand quiver.

_"Mustn't a man lead his fire to his mind, but heart...or his tyrant shalt consume both..." _she said softly, slowly; her finger curling back into her hand with the phrase's end.

Her eyes flicked up, and immediately locked onto the flickering amber flame on her candle that sat on her desk. She squinted her eyes as inspiration and hope hit her. She couldn't exactly translate this feeling into words or any logical form, but an instinct, something she could only call it, had struck her. A rock formed in her stomach at the thought of having to translate it into words in order to explain it to the others. It had to work somehow.

Seiya was restless for most of the night. It wasn't even his fear or grief that was making him toss and turn, he was a mess of emotions at this wasn't to say that his emotions were generally _static_...but they were far more hyperactive with all his internal chaos. He winced.

'_Kick and squeal, little piggy,' _he could almost hear the phantom taunting him.

His nails dug into the sheets as his muscles tensed, going into some strange sleep-spasm. His breathing was somewhat laboured, like short little groans escaped him as he exhaled rapidly, as chills of heat and cold pulses surged through him consecutively. Of course, it wasn't enough that his mind had lost structure and control- no! His body was out of whack too. Was it a fever he had? A chill? Whatever it was, it was the most unstable and indecisive body temperature ever. He muttered garbled distress calls through clenched teeth as he remained in limbo as the night progressed. But the loneliness- be he awake or not, was truly distorting him further. That mighty hero, the famous Pegasus saint, had been brought down into this state of helplessness and weakness, and had brought out that scared and vulnerable little 13 year-old he truly was, but what parents did he have to run for to seek love and protection? Seiya had been thrown into a dark world and demanded adulthood from him at only the beginning of his life. Surprisingly, like the other bronze saints, he had taken it well, and they sometimes even forgot what their actual ages were. But even the most shellshocked of soldiers have their limit, and while Seiya was far from shellshocked and emotionally dead, he too had a limit, that was apparently reached, and then shortly afterwards thrown through the ceiling and out into space or something, while Seiya got to deal with the remains- mental trauma. But hopefully, this would boost his endurance levels for future situations, he figured.

His attempts to continue with this pained sleep had finally crashed into an end, leaving him lying on his stomach, head resting on his hand, elbow sinking into the sweat-soaked matress. His facial expression didn't really denote much distress at this point- he looked rather bored and aloof, actually. He simply disconnected- it wasn't that hard to do when leading the life of a warrior. But he was miserable. Tired, sweaty, aching, hopeless, and miserable. He shut his eyes, frustrated, and let out an irritated sigh, matress springs creaking under his breathing. He rolled onto his side, sheets peeling off his stomach. His face twitched at the feeling. Sticky. Not a favorite sensation. He reached a point where he just wanted to be put out of his misery. But he didn't want to give in just because the sheets were soaked and he had a headache, no.

_'I will get through this night! I will sleep!'_ he thought to himself enthusiastically. Of course, there was a lot to do. A lot of fighting, terror, the lot. But that couldn't all commence in one night- especially _this_ night. His number one goal at this point was to just _go the heck to sleep, and wake up fresh as a god damn daisy the next day. _If he was going to eliminate deranged demons in his head, he refused to do so with a headache and no motivation, and an uncontrollable urge to sleep on the couch and eat a whole box of tortilla chips.

The walls were distorting in his vision. He was tired. He desperately wanted to just drop into sleep, but who knows, he could've had to sit back and endure a thousand nightmares here, a few threats there, it wouldn't have been much of a rest, quite frankly. He grunted, before lifting himself off the matress, sitting with a slight sway. He scratched at the back of his head with a look of discomfort, and forced himself to stand up, causing him to sway even more, on the verge of toppling over. Once he was rewarded with decent balance for his effort, he clenched his fist and raised it to his sight. Small beads of sweat ran down his back and chest, giving his dark skin a light sheen.

"I refuse to let you have my blood run cold, you bastard." he muttered under his breath, mouth barely opening, an amber eye glowing, glaring at the boy in the mirror.

He let his arm drop to his side, as he shut his eyes. He tipped his head back, rolled his shoulders back, letting out an audible crack. He winced, before lowering his head back down, and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He gave the floorboards a light kick, before returning to his bed. He dropped himself back down onto it, matress springs whining. He pouted. The sheets were still wet, but now they'd gone cold. What an awful night.

His reward for making it through the night was actually somewhat close to what he wanted. A surge of motivation and drive to fight had bolted through him, and had him spring out of bed and be on his feet, ready to tackle whatever the day had to offer. But with the realization he was struck with, he felt he couldn't be trusted- he didn't even trust himself at this stage. But his intentions had to be good if he was up and willing to conquer the monstrosity.

He crashed out at the Kido Mansion for the night, he was far too distressed to even conisder walking back home. Saori was fine with this, whereas Tatsumi just hated kids in general. Seiya crept down the stairs like a cat, peering over the edge of the doorway leading to the lounge. He spied his friends lazily hanging off chairs, some sprawled over the sofas in a daze, while Saori sat quietly by herself. Seiya blinked curiously.

"You can come in, you know." a voice called out from the room.

With relief to his anxiety, Seiya slowly stepped into the room, but spirits immediately dropped out of him, as his eyes scanned the room nervously, completely disheartened. His heart raced. What were they going to think of him?

Shun lifted himself from the sofa, and took a small step towards the shaken boy. "So, Saori's kind of given us a brief explanation as to what the heck's going on," he said. Seiya swallowed hard, a rock forming in his throat.

"Don't look so worried!" Shun grinned, raising his hands. "We made an oath from the very beginning, we'd always stick by each other no matter what, right? Unless you feel like you can take it alone."

Seiya shook his head, spooked. "Hell no! I dunno if I'll miraculously become stronger overnight, but I can't _dare _try to take it alone!" he quickly straightened himself up, and cleared his throat, giving his chest a light set of beats. "I mean...I have no idea what this might lead to...this thing has already shown to have more power over me, so it'd be stupid as hell to think that I could just _wipe it away.._." he muttered, looking away.

"Good choice," Shun replied. "But even with Saori's knowledge, all of us- even she's uncertain about the origins and truth of this thing." He lightly tapped his chin with his index finger. "But hopefully, the team will break through it all, right?"

Seiya smiled a little, and nodded in response. Optimistic.

"Well, uhh...am I allowed to hear about my little friend too?" He asked nervously.

Saori looked up at him in response. "Sit down, then. I'm not sure if you'll find my information useful, but it's all I know. Unfortunately, I don't have an 'Encyclopedia of Hades' handy,"

Seiya dropped himself onto the sofa, propping his feet up onto the table. "Yeah...I think _some _information is better than none at all,"

Saori cleared her throat before folding her hands into her lap. "Apparently, what Hades has done is...he's 'poisoned' you. Cursed you, rather. There's something evil inside you that's slowly growing and corrupting you, toying with your mind, and apparently, even posessing you. Where it came from, what it's made of, and what later effects it'll have on you I'm uncertain about, but we must act quickly. This entity is dangerous, and if left untreated, could potentially cause more damage to outsiders than it already has,"

Seiya recoiled lightly. "Jesus Christ..."

"That's...impossible..." Shun stammered, eyes wide. "As if Hades hadn't done enough already..."

"That aside, I'm not giving into this! I was born to fight off the challenges that life throws at me!" Seiya shouted. "If this thing wants to snatch my soul or whatever, he can have it when hell freezes over!" His blood began to boil.

"But what can we do to stop it...?" Shun replied quietly.

Seiya locked his eyes on Shun and grinned. "Only time will tell. Even I'll admit, we're kind of hopeless and clueless right now, but we can change that."

A sliver of anger remained within Seiya for the rest of the day. A lock had been put onto his freedom, as what felt like a sentinent camera was permanently locked onto him- perhaps sucking the life out of him as it watched.

The waves were relaxing. Even though escape was technically nonexistent at the current time, at least a few simple things would remain to soothe his furious heart. He held a hand against his chest. There had been a mild, dull pain rolling around inside his chest all day. His paranoia had led him to believe it could be linked to the phantom- or maybe it was his paranoia causing his chest to hurt. Either way, the phantom's existence was like a tiny siren wailing in the back of his head. It was difficult to ignore- could his life end at any second?

"Seiya, you seem so...down. If only there was something I could do..." She said gently, resting her head on his shoulder.

The boy smiled softly in reply. "Miho, just by being around is enough to raise my spirits," He kept his hand curled over hers. "The future is ambiguous, and there's no pont in me panicking about it all day. All I can do now is just focus on the present and just...let life take me where it wants me to go,"

Her delicate face smiled. Her legs slowly swung back and forth over the edge of the pier, being lightly tickled by the sea spray.

"Am I allowed to drift through life with you?" Her gentle voice chuckled, her hand toying with his soft hair.

Seiya's cheeks burned lightly. "I don't see why not. You seem like the kind of person I'd enjoy living life with," he smiled.

The girl giggled. "You act so hot-blooded all the time, but I know how tender you are on the inside,"

Seiya shut his eyes, smiling softly, letting the sea breeze carry his spirit away. "Nobody's ever told me that before."

The night rested on the sea, content. Wispy trails of moonlight danced around on the waves, that hissed softly in the night's silence.

Elsewhere, Saori's hunt for more information on Hades had proceeded to carry on through the night, with Shun and Shiryu at her side, considering that Shun had the most interaction with Hades, and Shiryu seemed to have the most spiritual knowledge.

"These symbols..." her ruby red nail trailed over the text. "I've never seen them before...in my life. Do you have any idea where they came from?"

Shun thought for a moment, tapping his index finger against his chin. "They do look familiar. They're a code of some kind,"

"I take it that means that Hades had created a personal code to protect his plans?" Shiryu asked, flipping though more papers.

Shun nodded in response. "I vaguely remember seeing symbols a little like this on Hades' sword. Though, I admit, I can't understand them."

Saori sighed, folding her tired arms over her chest. "If only we had some form of contact with Hades. That might help us somehow,"

In a split second, the Dragon saint's ears pricked up. He cleared his throat. "I can't be sure if it's going to work, but there are many ancient Chinese methods of contacting the spirit world. Some of which my master shared with me a few times, though like I said, it's uncertain if it's real. If it works, I might even be able to contact him; perhaps he can give us some advice,"

The other two seemed interested. It could be possible- the spiritual could neither be proven or disproven in the world, but following the experiences of the saints and their goddess, it was likely to have the results they hoped for.

Shiryu's room, like Saori's library, was lined with books- maybe not as many due to the size of the room itself, but nonetheless, there were a lot of books, most of which were in Chinese. There were ancient texts of all kinds- healing and medicine, legends and myths, manuals and guides, books of mythical creatures, books of spirituality and deities, all sorts, all of which could be useful anywhere in life. In a moment or two, the three of them were entering his room that faintly smelt of insence. There were bronze statuettes of dragons, that had glistening jewels for eyes and diamonds for claws, texts scrolls hanging off the walls, a red lantern with a gold dragon painted on it hanging from the ceiling that lit the room with a dim light, vibrant green ferns that sat in small, round, stone pots painted with tigers and dragons, and a large gold-rimmed shield with a Yin-Yang painted over the front to name a few of the beautiful artifacts that resided in his room. It was a beautiful sight, one could only wonder where he had managed to collect such things- they had to be worth millions in the market.

Reaching up to one of the shelves after running his finger along the spines of the books that sat snugly in their shelf, he pulled out a dusty-looking and fairly heavy book with a dark teal cover, and Chinese writing emblazoned in gold. The pages were old and yellowed, yet some of the pages held beautiful illustrations of ancient deities and philosiphers. Upon finding the page he was looking for, Shiryu stopped flipping through the book at let his eyes scan over the texts.

"It takes a great deal of spiritual training and intelligence to do this. Inner peace is needed to remove any internal darkness, and contacting the spirit world requires both said peace and knowledge acquired through intense meditation," Shiryu explained. "Some who wish to go further need years to a hundred of spiritual training, or knowledge passed down from a master."

Shun looked over his shoulder in fascination. "Well, we certainly don't have a hundred years to do what we gotta do. How long would it take to at least speak to Dohko?"

The Dragon saint took a few seconds to think. "It may take a while. I can't be sure how long _exactly_, but I wouldn't say anymore than a month, considering that we have a guide at our hands." The book shut with a soft snap. "Though, I highly doubt that we would be able to contact a deity like Hades, especially considering what happened back in Elysium."

Saori held her hands in front of her. "Regardless, thank you, Shiryu. I think that because of you, destroying that phantom may be easier than I anticipated,"

Shiryu smiled bashfully in response. "I'll do what I can."


	6. The Angel and the Amnesiac

**an: yo ok i'm super sorry i haven't updated in 9768756475869 years but here we have it?! update. this is a sad one pardon me but it has fighting aND! A SPECial appearence from a fandom favorite! can you guess who it is . Yup ok so i promise the next chpt will be written sooner and hopefully be of a better quality than this trash \m/ i'm sorry i just don't like how i wrote this chpt idk**

He could've gone back inside to join the others, but he didn't deserve it. What he felt was perfect for him was that harsh cold air that had him putting in all effort he had to refrain from shivering. From the cold little stone steps outside of the mansion, he looked in through the windows, the gold light from inside lit up his skin. There was definitely a conflict within him over whether he should stop sulking and go back, or if he should stay out in the cold like the dog he was. He caught a glimpse of someone occasionally turning their eyes to him, sitting like a sad puppy kicked out of it's home. He knew it wasn't right to treat himself like this. But it felt right, and in a sick, twisted way, he loved it. He felt this is what he needed.

He felt a smirk beside him, as it crept up his neck with it's spider-like legs. A cold smirk. _'How innocent do you think you are, anyway?' _He felt it grin sadistically. His shoulders jumped at a nudge to his back. Shun had opened the door slightly, and was now looking down at the sad sight of his friend.

"Don't you want to come in? It's freezing out here," he inquired. Seiya ignored him, much to his dismay. Seiya pouted as Shun dragged him inside by his arm. He dusted his shirt off and stood up slowly, irritated.

Ikki tilted his head at him. "What're you trying to do, exactly? _Punish_ yourself?" His voice seemed to sneer. "I know you're better than that. You're strong."

Seiya gave a shrug in response, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the floor. "I'm not safe to be around."

The phoenix scowled at him. "Will you stop that? You're perfectly safe to be around, there's nothing wrong with you! This isn't your fault, okay?"

"You really don't get it, _do you_?!" Seiya almost growled his words. "The closer you try to hold me, I know the more damage I'll do! I'm not risking hurting any of you, so this is for your own good!" Without further hesitation, he yanked the door open, and ran off into the wilderness like an animal. Ikki kicked off to start running after him, until he felt a hand chain him back.

"There isn't anything we can do to convince him to stay. Let him go," Shun sighed sternly. Ikki eyed him intensely, before brushing his hand away.

"I won't." Ikki's boot skidded as he shot through the doorway like a bullet, eyes burning with determination, leaving his friends behind back inside given little time to think.

"Ikki!" Shun called after him. His arm hung in the air in front of him as he stared into the night, watching his brother disappear. "I'm lost," he sighed, shrugging and letting his hand drop to his side.

The phoenix felt the wind howl alongside him as he ran through the thick forest, twigs and leaves whipping his skin. His eyes bolted in all directions, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pegasus. He skidded to a halt, spraying dirt from under his boot into a small cloud as he turned his head to the left, ears alert. A deep growling sound had caught his attention, and he was now creeping past trees, tracking the sound like a bloodhound stalking a scent. The shadows that twisted through the forest made it twice as difficult to seek out the source, and he would every so often turn his head quickly to every moving silhouette that he caught in the corner of his eye. He held his breath in his throat as his heart pounded, with the moon's milky light seeping through the leaves and dripping onto him. He suddenly locked eyes with- something. Something carefully hiding in the forest, all but it's amber eyes hidden under a black blanket. He inhaled deeply, before creeping out from behind his tree.

The forest floor cracked and crunched under his footsteps despite the lightness of them, and as he moved closer to the being, he felt his blood pump faster, until his gut dropped cold in fear. The growling became progressively louder. Was this thing even human...? _'Stay away,_' It's eyes seemed to warn him. He felt what was almost a cosmos radiating from this creature, but it was dark. Too dark. It was angry- maybe even evil. It was hot like fire, but had Ikki hold his steps in hesitation. With one final cautious step, the creature emitted a sharp, cat-like snarl, and unveiled itself from it's shadowy shield, and pounced forward like a bolt of lightning with claws shining.

Startled, Ikki cried out and swerved out of the creature's way sharply. Turning to see what his attacker was, he found it to be what he had feared most. Crouched down slightly, clawed hands in a hauntingly familiar pose, stood Seiya, breathing heavily with fangs bared. He held the most ferocious expression Ikki had ever seen on a human, and his arms and face were printed with striking black tiger-stripes, the black streaks just under his eyes brought out the intensity of them even more. Ikki backed up quickly and put himself into a fighting stance, as his attacker bounded forward, swiping his claws and only just missing him. Ikki threw a hard, quick jab at Seiya's head, knocking him back with a pained roar. Ikki took this moment to kick himself into the air, and he quickly swerved his body around to throw his attacker away with a fierce kick to the ribs. And how it pained him to do so.

Seiya was flung against a tree, and cried out in pain as the hard trunk struck his back. He fell on all fours, before shooting a glowing, orange, stare of hate at Ikki, before pouncing on him again. He swiped his claws through Ikki's shirt, and only just piercing the skin, leaving faint crimson stains on the tips of his claws. Ikki yanked Seiya forward by his shirt, and shot his knee into the younger boy's diaphragm. He emitted a restrained yelp, as he fell onto his knees clutching his midsection in panic, as he trembled and heaved violently. Ikki's eyes started to burn as his heart threatened to burst through his chest. Through labored breaths, he quietly choked. "I'm sorry."

He shot his boot forward and cracked Seiya right under his jaw, a long ribbon of blood snaked out of his mouth as he fell back far. Hitting the floor had him writhe in pain as his life leaked out of his fanged mouth. Ikki took small steps forward, tears threatening to emerge, with his teeth grit furiously. Seiya lifted himself up weakly, as he threw himself forward, attempting to sink his claws into Ikki's legs with a suffocated growl. Ikki tossed his head to the side and shut his eyes tight, tears beginning to creep out of the corners of his eyes, as his boot collided with Seiya yet again. The boy shook violently on his side, wheezing and occasionally spluttering from the blood streaming from his mouth. His growling breaths continued for some time until they faded into pained breaths. Human breaths. He stammered something under his breath.

Ikki rolled him over onto his back, anguished dark eyes stained with water. Ikki felt a dull, aching pain slowly spreading through his chest. Seiya's eyes twinkled up at Ikki. "Go...now..." he wheezed. Ikki grit his teeth, jaw trembling, falling onto his knees.

_'I'm sorry...I'm sorry...' _his mind echoed.

The dark space they waited in was quickly lit up again by another gleam of fiery light. Seiya clawed at the ground furiously, as his throat started to growl once more. He shot upright and over onto his hands, and let out a deep roar. _'Run away! Go!' _his heart shrieked. Such a shame his throat managed only a beastly cry. Ikki picked himself up again, and backed away quickly. "I don't want to fight you anymore." He murmured. He took more steps back before he was stopped by the bark of a tree trunk.

_'Why can't I? He isn't Seiya. He's a killer.' _his mind snapped.

Ikki huffed. "No...you're not a killer...I know who you are, Seiya. If only you did, too." Seiya wobbled slightly upon lifting himself from the ground, twigs falling off his shirt. He clutched his head as if in pain. He snarled. He dug his claws into his skull until he bled, and choked. He quickly stabbed himself in the shoulder, and started to pull his claws through his flesh like knives, quietly receiving the pain he deserved. He smiled as his eyes flickered with light on and off, like broken lightbulbs.

Ikki's eyes watered. "W-what are you doing to yourself?! Stop!" He shouted. Tears trailed down Seiya's cheeks as blood poured from his wounds. He laughed quietly. A sick, tired laugh, as he dug his claws into his shirt, slowly tearing through his chest. Ikki stumbled forward, vigorously pulling Seiya's claws from his skin. He stared the boy in the eyes as he held his trembling wrist tight, feeling his pulse pound against his palm. He wiped his tears away roughly with his wrist, not letting his eyes leave Seiya's once. Seiya seemed blank. Hollow. Apart from his quiet panting.

"Why did you come after me?" he whispered.

Ikki was furious. "How could I _not?" _he breathed. "I'm not letting you run away and die."

Seiya smiled sadly, and shut his eyes. "I wish you didn't care. Then you wouldn't have to worry. I'm not worth worrying about,"

Ikki breathed deeper. "I will _never _let you go. You've proved to me what kind of a person you are, and you are a rare person. I'm not just gonna let you fade away."

Seiya pulled his trembling hand out of Ikki's grip sharply. "I died long ago. I'm...I'm so sorry I let you down, Ikki." he smiled through tears, voice cracking. In a flash of silence and one last pained grin, Seiya turned around and ran deeper into the forest, a quiet choke drifting out of the shadows he further he went.

At that moment, a knife went through Ikki's heart. A cold, steel knife, one that maintained its coldness even slid into his flesh, and radiated it through his body. One that drenched his shirt in blood until the whole thing was dark. One he couldn't pull out. He collapsed onto his knees. He refused to believe the words spoken to him. They hurt. Could a dead star be saved, then?

As for the monster, he loomed on the other side of the forest, lying in the grass, letting the moonlight shower him and wash his sins away. His mind was overflowing. Regret, guilt, anguish... a feeling that that moment could've been saved somehow. But he lost it. It slipped out of his hands and away from his control.

_'This is your fault, you know,' _said the shadowy phantom standing in a black cloud beside him. _'All that blood on your hands. You really are a monster. No wonder your friends can't trust you,'_

Seiya looked away, failing to hold back those stinging tears. He always felt so childish when he cried. "Is this what I really am...? A monster?"

The phantom scoffed. _'That was all your doing, wasn't it? You could've stopped yourself. Remember the hosptial? All those innocent people, taken by those claws of yours.'_

Seiya's frightened eyes widened. All those images were crystal clear in his memory. Had he been possessed, he wouldn't have remembered. It really was his doing, and he could never undo it. He was relieved only at that his friends were far away from him. What had he become? Some hero he turned out to be. A psychotic, evil, lunatic, maybe. But no hero of Athena. No savior of earth. Maybe all that was a lie to begin with. Maybe this was who he truly was. Sick.

_'I could help you, you know. I'm willing to,' _the phantom chimed, black eyes gleaming. _'I know you're scared of me, and I'm sorry for striking you that way. But I want to help you more than anything. All I ask is for your trust; that can't be too much, right, friend?'_

Seiya felt nauseous. His spirit was shattered, to the point where he couldn't even trust himself. Maybe following what this phantom had to say _was _where he could find his light, somehow.

_'I must say, though, it's good what you were doing to yourself. You let out all your dark blood by hurting yourself. It's painful, but it's for the best. And no criminal can go without punishment, so...I think it's justified, don't you?'_

Seiya sighed worriedly. "I...I guess so..."

_'You've become a demon, Seiya. Don't you wish to be human like me?' _

"Y...yes..." Seiya stuttered. He felt trust in the being gradually developing. A dark, lonely trust. "...I hate myself...I'm a fucking monster..." he choked.

The phantom nearly shuddered in delight. _'And it's such a shame.' _it smirked.

He slept curled up in the grass the rest of the night. It was cold. And it was rather a distended nightmare rather than a sleep. The sun sat still on the horizon, and lit the sky white. He felt a breeze gently brush against him. A warm one. A soothing one.

_'Maybe he's wrong.' _the breeze whispered.

Seiya sat upright and looked to the sun curiously, as if it were calling to him. He turned his head to where he thought he heard this voice- paranoid, maybe. If he had it in him to go back home and get some therapy and medication for his apparent mental instability, he would. But this was something different- no hostility or malicious intent was found in this gentle voice.

Something caught his eye. An aura- a golden yellow aura, was slowly walking towards him in the shape of a human. Like an angel from above or something divine that the hopeless boy had hoped for. He blinked curiously; dumbfounded. "What...is this...?"

The aura slowly dimmed around the figure. He remained illuminated, but now, his build was in clear vision. And once the sight of this figure clashed with the boy's eyes, he felt something strange inside. He was no stranger to bizarre sensations, but this was indeed- something different. Sadness? Maybe even happiness? Remorse? It was like seeing an old friend that he had lost contact with, or a beloved lost relative. Something tied his soul to this entity- like a bond that brothers share.

There stood in front of him, a man, emerged in brilliant light. His hair was long and royal-blue, it was parted in the center, and it swept wildly and hung down just over his shoulders. His eyes were sleek, and the same intense blue. Behind him trailed a long, sky-blue cloak, making him look most dramatic. Quite a sight to see.

The lost boy scrambled to his feet to acknowledge this apparent divinity's entrance, and as much as he had wanted to greet this strange, otherworldly man, he could only look on in awe. As if just looking into the surrounding light brought him hope. A sense of faith, maybe.

The man smiled. "It's been a while, my friend."

The name of this man was right on the tip of Seiya's tongue. But for some reason, his name remained in limbo. "You're..."

"A friend of the past, you might say. I should apologize for the drama I caused you and your friends in the past, so I figured I'd do something worthwhile,"

Seiya continued to trip over his words in his head. "But...who? What? Why?" He stammered in embarrassment.

The cloaked being continued his steps forward towards the damaged mortal in front of him. "I want to know your name, first."

Seiya shut his eyes, head dropping slightly. "I don't know who I am anymore," he breathed.

The man gave him a look of sympathy, as he swept his hand over Seiya's chest, leaving his butchered shirt and skin healed and clean with a sweep of light, like a work of magic. He continued to do so on Seiya's sliced arm and scratched head, and looked into Seiya's eyes. "Why, oh why, did you have to do that? You're better than that," He gave him a light pat on the shoulder. The slightly less-wounded Seiya looked away in shame.

"I can sympathize, my friend. I was once in a position a lot like yours- the feeling of being eternally watched by something dark, who wanted to snatch your very soul right from under you. And the shame and hate I felt for myself knowing that this demon was derived from my own psyche. He would claw at my mind and twist my own hands into performing the darkest of acts, putting the world into peril before my very eyes. My brother was lucky to be far from falling into this, and despite the many fights we've had in the past, I can now say I'm glad he was safe. Though I suppose it's too late to say this now." He sighed in melancholy.

Seiya smiled subtly in response. This man was indeed no angel- he was something better- someone human. And sharing these dark stories was like sharing old war stories with a fellow soldier.

The man held his hand out in front of Seiya. In his palm rested the small image of a slow-turning galaxy, glittering with stars. "I was blessed with great power, and having this demon within me made my power something fearful. But you too have great power, but it will take more than just the mighty cosmos to eliminate your darkness. It will take something from within you, _Pegasus." _smiled the figure, as he rested the palm of his hand over Seiya's heart.

His touch was like being awoken in a pool of starlight- courage in its' purest state flowed into his veins, and at hearing that familiar and noble title return to him, he felt faith return once more. The faith that bound he and his friends together through the greatest of wars.

"I know who you are, Pegasus. You are no demon. But you're just like me, now- You've got a bad case of _Gemini_." he winked.


	7. Save Your Sorrows, Thief of Words

**an: should i apologize for taking so long? and i shall! i worked on this one for a while, i think it's decent enough to go. honestly, the first few chapters are still trash though. subject #2 makes his grand entrance, please welcome him**

_'Negative emotions are strange things. They swirl around inside your head, and make you feel lost, frustrated, and lethargic. Sometimes they even manifest physically, and all your hurt sits down in the bottom of your gut like a huge, heavy rock, that seems to make your footsteps slower and your head heavier. Tension invades and pulses through your muscles, through your spinal cord, and through your nerves and drives you into a release-craving insanity. They hinder your ability to do the things you want or need to do, and they tighten your breathing until you just can't be bothered to do anything about anything anymore.'_

Day had broken hours ago. Some few minutes after 10 in the morning, the sun was already streaming over the world below- while a heat churned within said world. But like they say- no rest for the wicked. The mansion had been dead silent for hours, not a word came from the scarred phoenix. He was at his usual; somewhere far enough to raise concern. He had gotten the message; it was going to take more than a fired up cosmos to deal with what had been dished out. He let himself ponder it all somewhere off in the distant mountains- he'd return when he wanted to. It was all kept between the 5 saints and Athena- however, a seventh had attempted to stalk the situation to its core. The predator tilted his head slightly, sharing a devious smirk as the sun's rays glowed beneath his eyes. His viper tongue craved blood, even at this innocent hour.

"I always told you how unreliable he is," his gruff voice taunted.

Shun's eyes narrowed into blades. "You never knew him. What makes you think you can say something like that?" he said sternly, focus firmly locked on the hunter standing cockily before him.

That deep blue stare continued its quest to whip the Andromeda saint into submission. He snared his fingers through his blond hair and combed it back, returning his sharp glare into Shun's eyes. "I knew him far better than you ever did, pretty boy," he took a confident step forward, his finger gliding up his stomach and landing at his heart. "Just ask the poison inside,"

Shun raised a narrow eyebrow, before turning his back on the tyrant in front of him. "You've been pining for Saori for quite some time, she never returned your feelings- I think I can see why."

It struck him right on the nerve. He barely managed to supress a wince, before quickly gathering his building emotional outburst, and sealed it well. "You're very defensive of him, aren't you? Maybe the rumors are true, then..." He said with a wicked smile.

Shun was already making tracks away from the scene. "Save it for later, unicorn." he scoffed.

Jabu stood there, insulted. How dare Shun walk away from an argument like that? He let his boot drag along the carpet, and trailed off to the sun smudged window, his reflection glaring back like a ghost. He let his eyes narrow at the door Shun left through, before returning himself to steadying his hot temper. He drew a lazy circle in the fog resting on the window, before stiffening again at passing thoughts. He looked over his shoulder worriedly, a growing concern coiling in his stomach. Trekking away from his window, he took gentle steps through one of the mansion's many grand hallways, and stopped at a gold-framed door, giving it a gentle knock.

"Come in," a soft, feminine voice responded behind the obscuring door.

Giving it a gentle push, he slipped into the room, and hastily tidying his hair and neatening his shirt. "Good morning, Miss Kido," Jabu said in the most polite tone he could muster, considering his temper had only just burnt out. Saori rose from her chair, greeting the Unicorn with a soft smile.

"Good morning, Jabu. I was wondering when you'd come in," she said with a light chuckle.

He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I was just wondering how you were, having what's been going on..."

"I'm managing, I insist. But...I just hope he's alright, I..."

Jabu took a step forward, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. You know how strong he is," Jabu almost stuttered, words tasting vile on his lips. His breath caught as his eyes went over her delicate face- her features all seemed to be perfect, no matter what angle he looked at her- those deep blue eyes, her perfect lips, her flawless skin...how he hoped to god he wasn't blushing visibly. He let his gloved hand drift over to hers, and was tempted to hold it- but there was no way he could without backlash. "If there's anything I can do, please, let me know," he said tenderly.

Saori took a moment to think, before lifting her sight back to the saint before her. "I have this feeling inside that he's somewhere near here," she began. "If you could be kind enough as to perhaps find him, I'd...really appreciate that," she smiled.

Jabu shut his eyes, bowing his head obediently. "Yes...anything for you," He readjusted his gloves, and was about to leave, before Saori's hand held his shoulder back with a soft tug.

"One more thing...I just wanted to tell you how thankful I am to have you right now. I would've sent the other bronze saints out to find him, but I felt you wanted something to do- the others are exhausted," she smiled softly. "But please, you must find him. I won't waste your time, good luck."

With a final obedient nod, Jabu set out the door, trotting down the hallway, grinning stupidly, cheeks aflame with a vibrant red. His heart fluttered and made him giggle against his will. He knew he looked ridiculous- but '_Who cares_,' he thought- '_Saori is thankful to have me!_'

Not that she loved him, or anything. Who knew how long it had been since Saori unknowingly stole the young saint's heart- she was pining for Seiya, it was clear- and this tangle of secret romantic desires was likely a great source of most of Jabu's problems. Others would constantly state how important the other 5 bronze saints were- and if only it were true in the context that they meant. Sure, they were important- in their own endeavors, that is. The weight of the world rested on the shoulders of the 5 'chosen' bronze saints, while the rest got to pick at the remains- but they made the most of it, considering they had nowhere else to go, and clearly nothing else to do. But contrary to the belief among the mooks in the Sanctuary, these guys had goals of their own- particularly Jabu. For years to come, Jabu had been unconsciously aware of his insecurities and the great acidic damage they did to him. Aspiring to be the confident, slinky, sexy, seductive type, he was at least a quarter of the way there- he could strike a great pose, and he had the tongue of a viper, and likely hypnotic powers of seduction; all he needed now was the real deal- the feeling of genuine self-confidence, not a poor stage production that may leave him doubting his edginess, in which he'd spend another night in his room alone listening to Linkin Park's '_Meteora' _album for the 40th time over.

The streets were quiet. His eyes scanned the serenity, before cocking his head up at it. '_I won't find him here. What kind of a monster would be taking a 9am stroll down this block?'_

Maybe he would've believed himself if he didn't feel that little something creeping in his blood. Maybe he'd catch his prey after all. Stop signs drifted, traffic lights faded, the street became a blur as his steps took him to the far reaches of his focus, before landing in the middle of a blank realm. The asphalt had ended out at the field of dirt and grass that littered the plain, as his sight scanned each inch of the scene. A hot rush pulsed through his skin as a presence struck him like an arrow. The wanderer's aimless journey would end now.

He stalked his prey silently, until the distance diminished into a small gap. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

Seiya spun around, taking quick steps back. He inhaled sharply before steadying his tremble.

"I can say the same?" he asked unsurely, unable to recognize his own voice.

"What the hell are you pulling?! Saori sent me out to try and get you, and what're you doing? Wandering out in the middle of nowhere?!" Jabu stammered furiously.

Seiya's dazed curiosity diminished into a piercing glare. "That's none of your business," A deeper, gruffer voice snaked out of his throat as his shoulders tensed.

Dumbfounded and insulted, Jabu snatched at the collar of Seiya's shirt. "What the hell did you just say to me?"

Seiya's breathing became audible- deep and low. His pupils contracted, his nose wrinkled, showing off his fiercest snarl. "Get your hands off me..."

Jabu hesitated as his eyes stung from that needle-sharp stare. That corrupt warning slapped him with sense, as he loosened his grip, letting Seiya's shirt drop down. Seiya spaced out, eyes glazed. He gave his head a slight shake before looking back at Jabu. He took a short step back, face ablaze with fear. He stuttered like a broken engine. Jabu was still in a stance ready to brawl, fists tight and glare burning. "Is that it? What's wrong with you?!"

The boy blinked rapidly, before loosening his breath. "I don't want to fight,"

Jabu nearly screamed. He stood there, anger reaching the point of explosion, fists trembling wildly. "You're fighting me right now!" he shouted, boots digging into the dirt. Seiya was now backing away rapidly, hands raised in submission.

"Jabu, please..." Seiya pleaded softly.

Jabu's head cocked back, almost recoiling, as his face was struck with confusion. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded.

An aching silence broke between the two, as Seiya stared down his hunter. His eyes were intense- the sky was bleach-white, and outlined Seiya's still figure, giving his face an eerie shadow that made his eyes look more intense than they'd ever been- like their color had lifted into a kind of rusty color. His emotion remained indistinct, unclear whether he had a want to scare Jabu off, or push away the fight. It was like being stared through like a wild animal- spooked and still. He opened his mouth.

"You should probably leave," Seiya said blankly. "For your own sake,"

Jabu blinked angrily in protest, wind sweeping his hair from his enraged eyes. "Is that a challenge?"

Seiya lowered his face, the shadows around his eyes like a raccoon's mask, but not once did he let his eyes leave Jabu's. The wind continued to cry for the tension to decompress. "I've done enough. Go away,"

Jabu became unsure, but his hesitation quickly became overpowered by a burning need. "Whatever!" he shouted, kicking off into a sprint as their distance quickly broke away. Seiya's eyes widened with a quick pulse, before baring his teeth and lowering his body into a subtle crouch. His face twitched with pain as his claws slowly emerged and formed where his nails had once been. His eyes were glazed with an amber sheen as his blood slowly boiled.

_'Stop! You'll kill him!' Seiya thrashed around, but nothing seemed to loosen the obsidian bonds around his wrists and waist. The demon before him gave him the most vile, demonic smile he had ever seen, eyes like ink. A single fang protruded from his mouth, as his clawed, cold talon hooked onto the boy's shirt._

_'You deluded fool...' he murmured, while the boy quickly regained consciousness..._

Seiya quickly ducked from Jabu's blow, eyes twitching wildly. A painful conflict had Seiya quickly back away, feet springing away from the scene, his fists so tightly clenched that his claws slowly slid into his palms. He tried his best to plead Jabu to stop, but a strangled growl emitted from his tightened throat, which he quickly grasped thereafter. The unicorn swung his leg at the conflicted beast. Seiya's bleeding hands quickly latched onto Jabu's kick, throwing him back forcefully. Jabu stumbled for a moment before huffing and swiping the sweat off his brow, and he ran back for a second attempt. His fists struck Seiya in a flurry, while Seiya unsteadily weaved through the strikes. He quickly rolled behind Jabu, locking his arm around his neck, yanking him back.

"Goddammit, stop it!" Seiya managed to squeeze out through his taut throat.

Jabu bucked wildly before breaking through Seiya's lock. He stood before him, rubbing at his neck annoyedly. He swiped his hand forward, pulling hard at the collar of Seiya's shirt. "Be serious!" he spat.

Seiya wiped the blood off his chin with a quick swipe, breathing heavily. "I already told you," Seiya huffed, already tired of his rival's stupid game. He opened his mouth to continue, while he took short, hesitant steps backwards- as many as he needed. "I don't want to fight you," The fire in Seiya's eyes had diminished into a plead for peace. Whatever had stirred inside him had slipped away for a second, and all that remained was his innocent shell. "I'm not up for it today. Don't ask me about it," He said with an irritated, but soft sneer, prying himself off Jabu's grasp.

Jabu seemed to remain more or less unresponsive- just like always. He wanted his fix, and that's all that mattered. "What the hell are you talking about? You better speak up now, or I'll bash your fucking head in," He hissed, prowling forward with every step Seiya took back. He was trembling. He was shaken with an immense fear, but he proceeded to push himself to make his assertion- he wouldn't miss his chance.

Seiya suddenly took a pause for his movements, in which Jabu mirrored it. The boy's eyes were aching. His heart was clenching, his palms were stinging, he just wanted to go home. _'I'm gonna have to do it, aren't I?' _ His eyes wandered over the wounds on his palm, watching intently as thick, red life seeped out of them like dew off a leaf. He shut his eyes and let his pain burn, and he let it burn strong. He let his claws reemerge, while jet black stripes spilled over his arms and cheeks like ink on water, and a fierce black rim slipped under his eyes. His pupils contracted tightly, and the dark chestnut color of his eyes caught fire, as the embers spread to reveal intense fire-lit skies. He let his lips part slightly, as small, sharp fangs slipped out from under his lips. He looked back at Jabu nervously. He felt so exposed; so naked. Almost embarrassed. He gave a light, indifferent shrug, as if to say '_Here I am.'._

Jabu hesitated. He stilled, body still tense, unsure what his next move should be. _'They really weren't lying when they said shit had gone down.' _Jabu's guard lowered, stance reverting to straight. A look of slight concern crept over his face, maybe even pity. He walked over to Seiya like he would a frightened animal- working slowly.

"What...what happened to you...?" Jabu breathed low, unable to pry his eyes off Seiya's newfound features. Seiya's hand stuttered, about to cover his face in shame- but there was no point. The cat was out of the bag, and now Jabu could see the twisted monster he had become. And what it meant, too- instability. Loss of control. Insanity. His ears were practically burning with shame, and his heart was throbbing painfully. He felt disgusting. He took a moment to let his distortions diminish before he responded to Jabu's disturbed curiosity.

"Well Jabu," Seiya sighed, lifting his hands slightly before letting them drop back to his sides. "This is the guy who you've been burning with envy for. Maybe now you'll finally leave me alone," Seiya seemed to laugh with spite, despite his embarrassment and hurt blaring.

Jabu was still frozen, and seemed to have tuned out to Seiya's dark cynicism. "But...how...what?"

"I think it'd be best if I didn't go into it too much. I don't quite understand it myself," Seiya explained blankly, starting to slowly wander around the open road. "But I've finally lost it. I've become a class A lunatic, and I think for the sake of your safety, and everyone else's, you'd best be on your way and let me rot here or something,"

Jabu failed to respond. He wouldn't dare share a piece of sympathy with Seiya, he wouldn't dare in his life. _'But it hurts to see him this way...' _Jabu thought, before promptly mentally kicking himself in the ribs. But what he did know was that Saori was hurt- and it made Jabu sick to think it was over Seiya, but pleasing her was all that he really wanted to do- he needed to get Seiya back home, and quickly. But Seiya had already revealed his tainted soul- he was a force to be reckoned with, even more so than before- now he was likely unstable enough to kill to break away. _'If only I had tranquilizer darts,' _Jabu thought to himself with a supressed scoff.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you rot," Jabu replied, voice lowered. "You don't seem to understand how I work," he continued, starting to approach Seiya once more, with a frustrated, wicked smile. Seiya could tell that this would be a struggle- his muscles started to tense, until he stopped clean in his tracks, left only to shift around uncomfortably. "When I want something, I _get _it. You're right, Seiya; you're not yourself. And I'm gonna get you back to the way you were before, because we have a score to settle," Jabu seemed to hiss his words, right up close so he could deal a piercing, possessive glare effectively. "And nothing will be settled if you're out here in the middle of nowhere and letting yourself become...whatever it is you're becoming," he huffed his final words. "Why are you running away? What're you, a _coward?"_

Seiya stiffened. A coward. This is what he was becoming. Not only unstable and probably insane, but a coward on top of that. A cold slick started to coil in his stomach, as his ribs seemed to bind tighter around his lungs. A sudden fire surged through him at a sudden memory- Saga. Who knows if it was a hallucination, or a dream, whatever it be- the Gemini saint himself had walked once more in an abstract build of flesh made of light and blood of air, only to reawaken Seiya's lost identity. All that just for him. Just for him. How wonderfully surreal.

"No, I'm not a coward," Seiya took a deep breath, pushing Jabu away gently. "Maybe I will go back," he continued, heading to where Jabu had come. His walk was unsteady and sore, and his eyes were as dry as his throat. He was starving, sleepless, and emotionally overwhelmed- the only way to fix all of said listed problems was to indeed, go back. They were his friends, what could go so wrong? But it was confronting, naturally. But if Jabu actually agreed to trek all the way to find him, then he should probably be capable of adding a little backup, if needed. '_Can't really expect too much of him, to be honest...' _Seiya snorted, and supressed a subtle smirk of disdain. But it wasn't like him to lose faith in others. Seiya had already walked a distance away from Jabu, before stopping to look over his shoulder. "Although you might want to come along. It's a little lonely out here."

Tedious and slow. The walk was tedious and slow. It's not like Seiya really strayed too far from home- he was probably too worn out to go as far as hoped, regardless. But it felt like a million miles, and it felt good for about 20 minutes until he started to grow lonely and paranoid. How embarrassing, paranoia was starting to become Seiya's new trademark personality trait- sure, it was very much alive and difficult to cope with even before recent nerve-numbing events, but it didn't seem very fitting for a hero- or, as so he was called by everyone else. Seiya started to look scornful again.

"I really had no idea you cared so much about me, Jabu," he said almost mockingly. "If you really hated me so much, you'd have left me out there,"

"Don't even fucking try it, Pegasus," Jabu spat in response.

Seiya barely managed to supress a burst of laughter. _'What a colorful vocabulary.'_

The day was in full swing, people caught up in their business, surging through the towns, while the disgruntled pair seemed so out of place there, that Seiya couldn't help but find humor in it- a self-mocking humor. Jabu didn't take much notice of his surroundings, and just seemed determined to find a quiet spot to just collapse in. The only thing that he seemed to really take notice of were the young women going about their business- the ones who donned microscopic scraps of cloth that they passed off as skirts seemed to draw subtle smirks from the unicorn.

"Come on, sunshine, you can't really be getting _that _distracted," Seiya teased, prodding at Jabu's ribs with an elbow to try and pull his attention away from a young blonde woman in the tiniest dress he had ever seen. "Talk about priorities, no?"

Jabu rolled his eyes, and seemed to lightly shove Seiya out of the way to overtake him, a scowl on his face. Although Seiya wasn't particularly interested in the skimpy costumes, his attention did drift upon a girl, no older than 19, who had slightly wavy, strawberry blonde hair, and hooded teal eyes. Seiya's head seemed to follow her as she passed by. _'Kinda looks like Seika. Funny.' _

Seika. He hadn't seen Seika for what, how long? The last time he saw her was back in Elysion- and from there, it was all unwanted flashbacks of scenes that made his stomach churn. For a so-called 'world of light' populated by nothing but flowers for god damn miles (likely for all eternity), it sure was a place that made his head spin until he felt like gagging. Something about it just turned him right off, and at any time one of his friends would bring it up, he'd be particularly tempted to leave the room, or at least tune out and drown out the conversation with philosophical ramblings within his own head. Even the god cloth he donned for a split second made him feel perhaps a surge of power that brightened his cosmos like petrol in a furnace, but it felt hauntingly uncomfortable- oversaturation to the point where he felt like he couldn't take it anymore.

But Seika...he had already asked his friends about her whereabouts, but all reports were turned in blank, and the radar remained flat. From what he heard from a quiet rumor is that she believed Seiya to be dead, and travelled far off to some place where she could disconnect and mourn her brother in peace. _'Great.' _He thought to himself and rolled his eyes. _'It's like the world just doesn't want me to see her or something.' _But he knew that if she were around to see the chaotic web he was caught in now, she'd tell him to never give up, never give in, and hold his head up high. It meant a lot, considering all the support he was given by her back when they were kids...

"Well, here we are. Ready to make your triumphant return, hero?" Jabu alerted, standing not too far from the mansion, arms out slightly. He turned back to face Seiya with a smirk. "Don't tell me you've pussied out already,"

Seiya cocked an eyebrow at him. "No, I haven't," he said simply. "I just...need some time to ready myself..."

Jabu folded his arms, eyeing Seiya. "We were walking for, like, 20 years. But fine, you have fun 'readying yourself', but I have some things to attend to," He called out, trailing off, before he was yanked back quite forcefully, greeted by a disdainfully blank stare.

"You're not going anywhere, sunshine," Seiya muttered under hooded eyes. "Smarten up unless you want to end up as lunch,"

Jabu shrugged, swatting Seiya's hand away. "Fine, fine. I'll stick around for your little homecoming party,"

Seiya smirked, darkened eyes at half-mast. _'He's confident in thinking that I won't butcher the poor sucker...' _

His brain suddenly stuttered. What? He didn't just think that...did he? _'And it's come to this. Once I get this twisted little shit out of my head, it's gonna get the beating of it's life.' _He thought, frustrated, as he felt an insulted frown come from the dark ambience that loomed over him. _'Yeah, you heard me.'_

Although a surge of confidence was awarded to him for launching a few snarky remarks at his little demon, he quickly reawoke to the current scenario. He was going to return to his friends. He swallowed hard. He could only hope that things would turn out decently, but Ikki on the other hand...he was far too anxious to even think about that. _'This is gonna be interesting.'_

The pair stood still for a moment, before Jabu motioned for Seiya to enter. "Ladies first," he mumbled sarcastically.

Seiya cocked an eyebrow at him, and dealt him a forceful shove, before working his way up the small set of stairs leading to the great doors hinged off the titanic concrete frame. A tug at the curly golden handle proved a lock, before Jabu quickly skipped up the stairs, fitting a small key into the fancy golden keyhole, blushing a little.

"There, go in. Go. Shoo," Jabu growled, nudging the door open with a fist, and giving Seiya a gentle push through the doorway. Unconsciously, Seiya's heels seemed to be digging into the polished tiles, creating a none but pleasant squeak, with a distraught expression locked on his face.

_'No. Nooo.'_

After finally stumbling past the front steps, he let his breath loosen as he scanned his surroundings. The room was relievingly empty. He stood frozen in a defensive stance, before he gradually heard voices over the silence. Familiar ones. The ones belonging to his shaken friends that he would probably have to confront in the next five minutes or so. He started to sweat.

_'God slayer, and here I am shaking in my sneakers over confronting my friends, what are the odds?'_


	8. Lazarus

"Seiya!" The flash of green nearly leaped on Seiya and threw his arms around him, but sprung to a halt at his feet. "Where have you been? Are you alright?"

Seiya's shoulders pricked up on invisible strings as he froze on the spot. _'Where have I been? Am I alright? What to say, what to say...'_

"I'm...I'm okay..." he replied slowly, eyes trailing to the ground, muscles tense as can be, before hastily straightening his posture. "I mean, I'm okay now, at least..."

"You look exhausted. I don't know if you want to take a shower, maybe eat, and take a nap or something- we'll talk later, if you want,"

Seiya's eyes flicked up again, still in a subtle daze. "I...I have some things I need to sort out right now," he said intently. "Is...Ikki here?" he asked softly.

Shun looked over his shoulder for a moment, eyes focused. "I think he's upstairs, but it's been hard to keep track of him," he whispered, eyes still over his shoulder. "I think he's been worried about you,"

_'Thank god,' _Seiya thought.

And Prince Paranoia had tricked himself again. It'd always been a nice little habit of his- and with the obvious recent events, that little habit really started to show. But now came facing the boy in blue. Seiya pondered this for some few minutes. Forgiveness or bloodthirst? It was really hard to tell considering the person in question's general demeanor. But they'd fought together, fought for each other's lives. Protected what was good together, and formed a powerful bond only the closest of brothers share. He had to be at least slightly forgiving. _'No,' _Seiya slumped over slightly, exhaling in mild frustration. _'He's definitely out for my hide.'_

Seiya took a quick breath, still failing to loosen up as much as he had planned. "Okay," he exhaled, holding his arms behind his back. "I'll have a word with him," His confidence was all ablaze- to be honest, it would've been far more effective had he not been so aware of how he was trembling ever so slightly, whilst holding an expression somewhat reminiscent of how a deer stares at an oncoming train.

'_Sorry I fucked up your shit, we're still pals, right?' _He rehearsed to himself. Brothers to the end, brothers to the end- nothing could get in the way of it, right? Nothing?

'_I almost tore his fucking face off. That's not okay. He's said it to my face; he thinks I'm an idiot.'_

Seiya glanced over his shoulder, waiting for his newfound unwanted sidekick to dish out a snide remark about how he looked like a little girl trying to climb the stairs while having a miniature panic attack. It was right on cue.

'_It was your fault, you know,' _it scoffed disdainfully. _'You could've done something, you idiot.'_

Seiya's eyes were scornful, at an unphased half-mast. _'You could've too,' _he snapped back.

It seemed to drift away, insulted, as Seiya stood at the Phoenix's door. Just a tiny knock. Just a little bitty knock, and then everything would be okay?

Blue mirrored red, and he looked like he'd been given an angel's bloodied feather. They both did, really, like nothing could quake that silent burst of conversation just kind of floating between them. Anger, fear, happiness, sadness, it all kind of brewed in an unstable little storm that only they could see. _'Here we go,' _Seiya exhaled once more.

"I wanted to apologize for every stupid thing I've ever done or said to you," Seiya said softly, his head hung low, eyes forced in the corner of the room, with his arms folded across his chest, as his stomach coiled painfully tight.

"You read my mind," Ikki murmured in response. "Don't run away again, okay. I don't care what you do, just don't do that. I think I've lost enough,"

Seiya looked back up, feeling something like a lukewarm knot that made his stomach churn, and his eyes started to ache. It was probably happiness. It was a little hard to tell. He blinked for a moment, feeling something warm press against him. Kind of rough, angry- he could feel it seep through into his own chest.

"You're my brother. Got it?" Ikki sneered through his teeth. "And I'm furious that you thought I'd be fine if you just packed your bags and left. I don't care how many clawmarks you leave in me. Don't put all my struggles in keeping you alive to waste,"

Seiya's breath caught, eyes beginning to sting. He let his fingers cling. Brother. Brother. _'What have I done, brother?' _

Ikki sighed hard, nudging Seiya away gently. "I shouldn't cry. Neither of us should, we're men," he said, voice low.

Seiya tilted his head slightly, smiling subtly. "I think there's a good excuse to let us," he replied. "I mean, you hugged me and everything. You don't usually do that. I really had no idea you actually cared that much about me,"

Ikki scowled. "See, this is part of the reason why I hate you. I know you're not dumb, but you can't fucking see these things. You have a lot, and you dismiss it all. Your self-esteem is absolute shit and it kills me. I hate it," he spat. "What's it gonna take for you to think something of yourself?"

Seiya's eyes trailed back to the corner of the room, face flushed brightly. "I'll…get around to it," he replied awkwardly.

Ikki glanced, and cocked an eyebrow. "Then do it soon," he mumbled, gently pushing past Seiya. "C'mon. Let's crash out downstairs or something,"

Seiya nodded once, smiling in relief as he felt those tight cold straps loosen and drop down from his chest, making breathing a chore no more, before trotting after his brother.

'_Tough love,' _Ikki liked to call it. Although Seiya would often be on the verge of bursting at the seams from defiance, it was always something he took in and treasured. Ikki always held a great deal of respect for the Pegasus saint- but chose to express it in a more…'aloof' manner. A type of expression that the paranoid younger boy would perceive as disdain. Ikki was never straightforward when he showed appreciation. Ever. It was a part of his persona, though- aloof and mysterious- very. But Seiya's habit of self-deprecation would drive the Phoenix into almost immediate frustration. _'Idiot,' _he'd mutter, as he wondered why Seiya was so blind.

But there was peace now- for the moment, at least. It was fairly dry and empty, but no one had died and no bridges were burnt. There was a steady patience, maybe even subtle yearning for something to lift the moment at least a little bit. Seiya knew he couldn't stay stable for too long, and felt tempted to leave the room and lie down in the cupboard under the stairs. It'd be better than jumping out the window and kickstarting another disaster, he figured. Maybe digging a 40 foot-deep hole in the ground and sleeping in there would work too. He lifted his unfocused gaze from the ground and to Ikki. He was sitting, reclined, arms folded, eyes shut, and breathing steadily. How Seiya longed for the ability to detach like that.

His ears suddenly pricked up at the sudden sounding of footsteps. Ikki cracked an eye open, and welcomed the visitor with a tilt of his head. "Shiryu," he greeted.

Shiryu nodded to the Phoenix in response, before his eyes immediately drifted to Seiya.

"You're…you're back, I see," he stammered in the calmest voice he could muster. "Good timing, too. I've worked out a way to contact my master," he motioned his head for Seiya to follow him. The Pegasus blinked curiously.

"I'm surprised he didn't contact you himself. Maybe he's been busy," Seiya chuckled dryly, before striding up to Shiryu. "I'll be on my way then, Ikki. That okay?" he asked over his shoulder. Ikki tilted his head a little again. '_Go for it,' _he seemed to say.

"So what were you doing out there, anyway?" Shiryu murmured questioningly.

Seiya scratched behind his neck sheepishly. "It seemed like a nice night, so I went for a walk..." he replied with a sarcastic smile. "Let's leave it at that."

The basement was still the way it had always been. It was massive, empty, almost abandoned-looking, mood interrupted by the towering storage crates that remained, while a more than profound number of equally abandoned cobwebs filled corners and cracks, thickening as they collected dust.

Seiya's curiosity aroused, his eyes running over the room. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been down here- or if he'd been down there at all. His attention was quickly caught by a small circle of shiny green stones that lay on the concrete. Beside it lay an open textbook, and a small, golden candle, flickering gently in the blackness.

"My master has a great knowledge on this subject. Although I'd love to give you my own diagnosis, I feel as though he might communicate it more accurately," Shiryu sat beside the candle, giving it a gentle nudge with his finger. "After all, you share something with him that I had never known about."

"Me and Dohko?" Seiya blinked, dumbfounded, stilling before lowering himself to the ground. "What are you saying, here?"

Shiryu went silent for a moment, eyes trailing up walls uneasily. "I told you, I don't really know how to explain it myself. Hopefully this won't be too much of a challenge- apparently those who share a strong spiritual bond are able to contact each other from opposite realms- sometimes without even meaning to,"

Seiya blinked again, before folding his arms, a look of concentration. _'Explains the sudden visit from the boy in gold...' _he thought to himself. _'But Dohko? Why him?'_

The next few minutes were difficult. One of the actions needed to be taken in order for the whole thing to work was remaining calm. There wasn't that much calm, though- but there was plenty of wriggling.

"Seiya, please," Shiryu sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Shiryu," Seiya blinked, rocking slightly. "I'm nervous."

"Focus on the center of the stones. Think of it as the center of your life,"

Seiya followed his instructions. Defying all temptations to shift around, he felt his eyes slowly relax as his shoulders went limp. Sensations of sleepiness fluctuated with sensations of power, and his pulse found a steady, slow beat. The room gradually fell into darkness with only the candle left to break the silence, as it flickered in protest to the hazy black. A hot flush ran through his body as his senses grew neutral, while sound was left to drown in the thickest of silences, while he quietly breathed in time with his heartbeat. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting…

'_Come on__.__'_

Seiya's eyes snapped open, yet the black was still thick enough to suffocate him. A sudden urge to move had him grow aware that he was either submerged in water, or unable to move correctly. Kind of suspended. In the distance he could make out lights. They were tiny; little pin pricks in the dark. 7 ones, to be exact. Little stars; gold ones.

'_Don't be shy.'_

He gave in to slower movements once he found out frustrated kicking didn't seem to get him very far. Drifting- just slowly drifting with ever so gentle kicks would get him where he wanted. Scenery became clearer. It revealed itself as clouds- thick, black clouds. Not quite storm clouds- something far more unearthly. They seemed to be carried back by a gentle current of air- or whatever it was that Seiya was currently breathing. He turned his head in search of where these clouds were headed, lack of movement sending him slowly drifting backwards.

'_I wouldn't go there if I were you,'_

Seiya quickly swiveled forward once more, exhaling before slowly letting himself drift forwards once more. _'Sorry.'_

Patches of deep, dark blue appeared in the sea of inky clouds that rolled beside him, as tiny white speckles started to float within. More and more scattered out as he continued moving, until the clouds suddenly diminished into flatness. Those little stars up ahead began rotating slowly, like a tiny galaxy- until they stopped in an odd shape. The two stars at the bottom began slowly moving like footsteps, as a second heartbeat came into Seiya's hearing.

Teal eyes blinked with luminescence, burgundy hair was carried by a nonexistent breeze, and a heartbeat kept its rhythm alongside Seiya's.

'_It's nice seeing you again, Seiya. I had a feeling I would,' _Libra Dohko smiled, voice as still as the blackness. _'So, little tiger, you've come for some answers?'_

Seiya flinched at the word 'tiger'. _'Yeah…that. That'd be great, to be honest,'_ He looked away slightly.

Dohko smiled in sympathy. _'Come on. We're gonna go for a walk,'_

Well, a float, maybe. Stars continued to litter the blackness in massive clusters of blue and purple, with the occasional streak of orange bolting past. Tiny galaxies floated suspended like bubbles, and surrounded the beings as such.

'_You've reached a nonhuman state. How do you feel?' _Dohko asked casually, running his hand through a passing cloud, letting it softly shatter into stardust. Seiya watched the stars drift apart in astonishment, before looking down at ghostlike hands. He recoiled slightly at the fearful sight of stripes, before he closely eyed them with curiosity. They were white, gently pulsing with light.

'_How do I feel? I'm not sure if human language is that advanced yet,' _Seiya muttered in exhilaration. Dohko laughed warmly.

'_You've always been a strange one, Seiya. I sometimes wonder about you. Maybe while human spirits were being sent to earth, a little cosmic being got tangled in there and put into a human's body,' _He chuckled softly, continuing to play with the stars. _'You're closer to the cosmos than you might even believe,'_

Seiya felt a bizarre emotion sweep across him. Sadness? Happiness? He felt at home. Very much at home. A strange, abstract ambience hit him in just the right spot, making him want to squirm.

Dohko folded his arms over his chest, when something caught Seiya's attention. Dohko's body was suddenly too, decorated with the same stripes Seiya donned. Powerful and striking- but far from aggressive. Pulsing with that intense, white light.

'_I've known a Pegasus saint before. Centuries ago- he's long gone now, but he was a good friend of mine. I've contacted Pegasus saints of the past, and they've all been reminiscent of each other, sort of sharing the same spirit to some extent. But you're an odd one, Seiya. Very odd indeed. You're darker.'_

Seiya cringed, feeling his heart sink. _'A bad apple on the tree, am I?' _he scoffed dryly.

Dohko laughed loudly in response, scratching at his head. _'You're pretty paranoid, aren't you? You're far from evil, Seiya. You haven't an ounce of evil on you. You're a unique little hybrid- one that hasn't appeared for thousands of years. You've inherited a spirit that doesn't really mix well with Pegasus. You could've almost ended up like me, but, the universe decided you'd be the odd one,'_

Seiya tilted his head to one side. _'Ended up like you…what, a tiger?' _he asked softly, eyeing the stripes on the Libra saint's body, before looking down at his own chest, painted strikingly.

'_Precisely,'_

Seiya watched his own stripes pulse with their light, running his fingers over them. _'But…what are these 'tigers', exactly?'_

'_Tigers are free-roamers. Life benders. They live life how they want, they decide when they die- if they die, that is. Laws of mortality and existence are meant to be broken by them. They're spiritual rebels, you might say. Hades never got along with tigers- he didn't want people messing with the laws of life and death, and you can't really blame him,' _Dohko blew gently at a passing galaxy, letting the stars drift away like sand.

'_So that's why you got to live for so long,' _Seiya smirked, folding his arms across his chest

Dohko grinned. _'But Hades always had a soft spot for Pegasus. Since the age of myth, they've been close. Really close, even if they were destined to be enemies. But try putting a tiger and Pegasus together. That's a powerful and strange combo. Hades knew that it would happen eventually- so he made a few 'modifications' to his sword,'_

'_What, he made a special weapon just for me?' _Seiya sneered.

Dohko's eyes narrowed._ 'He made a deal with something truly unholy. Something that could mutate one into a demonic shadow of their former self. Something that preys on everything sentient- even Hades could be an easy victim. A strange venom that would manipulate the tiger side into something repulsively dark, like a fate worse than death'_

Seiya blinked with an unfocused gaze set in the distance, letting everything said soak in. His mind was shaken- nothing had ever hinted any of these things. Only until now had people made mention of this dark substance, and what it could do- and would he be able to overcome it? Overcoming something that sucked the blood out of even the gods. Something truly unholy.

'_What we can't see hurts us most' is one of its favorite taunts. But it'd say it in Latin, of course- it wouldn't want you to understand it,'_

That little line that the shadow had given Seiya. He snarled a little, tossing his head to the side. _'Slimy bastard.' _he thought.

Seiya exhaled deeply, focus running to seeking serenity. _'So…what do I do to defeat this thing? What is it?' _he asked unsteadily, but intently.

Dohko's eyes shut. _'I don't know how to overthrow it. I've never faced it myself…at least to this extent. This is your battle, Seiya. There are things you must learn yourself, and things you must face alone, as much as I'd like to join you. You need to find yourself. Let your darkness out- but embrace it. The victory will take place within you,'_

Seiya jolted as he felt a sensation of falling hit him, an abstract tugging, even as he remained suspended, while a hot chill surged through his body in a quick burst. _'Wh…what the..?'_

Dohko shook his head. _'You can't stay here forever, you know. But you can come back some day- and one day you'll stay here as long as you please. After all, this is your home…' _he began. _'I bid you farewell, and good luck, young tiger,'_

Seiya hesitated for a moment, before he smiled, and nodded. _'Thank you, Dohko,' _he said softly, before lights were drowned out by a familiar wave of blackness. Stars diminished, and an unknown sensation forced his eyes shut, while a cold breeze rushed past him, as the clouds began to rise from below…

Cold. Very cold. He shot up from the freezing surface below, inhaling sharply, eyes snapping open and greeted by subtle cool, dryness. Grey floor, grey walls, dark. There's a light there. It's a candle. Who's that?

"Did he speak to you?" Shiryu asked intently, gripping the floor anxiously.

The sound was unfamiliar to Seiya. His eyes rolled up, and focused lazily on the dark ceiling. His brow furrowed slightly in confusion, his breathing still slow. He grunted softly before pressing his palm against his face. That's right. Earth. He forgot.

"Yeah…" Seiya replied absentmindedly. He took a moment to readjust himself to the feeling of air, and the ground pressed against him from below. "I think…things make more sense now. A lot more sense. Not entirely, but it's better,"

Shiryu blinked curiously, before Seiya cleared his throat. "Turns out there's a lot I have to do. But I think things are gonna be a little different this time," He murmured, stretching his arms forward and rolling his shoulders back. "But I'm pretty sure things are going to start making more sense by making _less _sense."


	9. Spinal Fluid Cocktail

Ikki's eyes were kept pried against their will on the lifeless wanderer for most of the day. But what power did he have? Seiya's mind was locked off by an icy wall, and encouragement was about as effective as the painkillers he took. An inescapable thing- with each human dropped onto the earth, each one to experience life, and at some point in each life, they're given a chance to get a good taste of how bitter one can get at once. A good, long lick at coagulated blood that tried its best to seal off sliced blood vessels they dealt themselves.

Of course, a phoenix is immortal. Live, burn, rise, repeat. Ikki had grown accustomed to living this way- it was hardly a hassle anymore. The burn always hurt- but the rise came afterwards, always. That was just the way it was, and it was a good way to live by his standards. But as for everyone else? Not everyone had mastered this method of living, yet. So the downfall of one of his friends was a frightening thing to watch- and he could only hope they could manage to take another swing at it. His eyes were still so focused. Not really on anything- he felt tense. He let loose a light sigh. It didn't do much to ease the tightness in his chest. Better that than nothing.

"I don't know what I'm so anxious for," he murmured, keeping his shoulder steadily leaning against the wall. "I know he can make it through this. It's just...sad to watch, I guess..."

Shun turned his head to give a sad smile to his brother. "Of course it's sad to watch. How do you think I felt when I watched you go through yours?" he asked, voice steady. Ikki turned away slightly, a small smile present. His smile gradually weakened at watching Seiya once more. Steady steps were taken.

"You okay?" he asked. Seiya was quickly plucked from a pit of space junk to respond to reality calling. His eyes were glazed over with angry confusion; white noise composed of drowsiness.

"I feel like dying," Seiya murmured somewhat nonchalantly. "It's funny how just a little paranoia can twist you into something this pitiful." He smirked in self-mockery.

A tiny palpitation kicked Ikki's heart, his expression twisting into unsureness. His lungs stiffened for a quarter of a second before he let his breath loose. "Just keep your feet on the ground, whatever you do. Live life one day at a time."

"Of course, of course," Seiya replied with a slightly bemused sigh. "It'd be obtuse of me to do otherwise. But if I wander around the place with a little thundercloud above my head, it's justified," Seiya spoke with a vaguely defensive tone.

Ikki rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's fine."

Seiya leaned back weakly, letting his back hit the wall, warmth seeping out to meet cold. He breathed against the hand spread out over his mouth and nose.

_'Sorry.' _A muffled murmur came from behind his hand, while a shadowy figure leaned against that same wall, arms crossed, face polluted with a wicked smile. So clear to the seer, but to the outside, it was the lightest of silhouettes. A milky, pale, lifeless shadow that moved with its host's movements.

_'You're making such a fool of yourself,' _he chimed, a knifelike claw teasing the thin skin of Seiya's throat, making his body shudder and his blood run cold. He swallowed hard.

"Hey!"

A split second of a migraine reformed into daylight. Ikki had taken him by the shoulder, shaking him enough to rid him of abstract. Seiya's expression relaxed, hand unconsciously running over a cold clawmark only real to him. That's just ridiculous.

Ikki grit his teeth, brow furrowed tightly. "You really need to stop doing that, it scares the shit out of me."

_'You have no idea.' _Seiya thought to himself, while straightening his posture to resume a human's existence. Tedious, but it had to amount to something. Seeing all his work go to waste would be a real shame. A very frustrating one.

Yes, very tedious, isn't it? Getting impatient?

Bleak.

Dry eyes, 2400 hours, sharp stomach pain. His hands were stained dark, but nobody could really see it anyway. Why did it matter, then? Because he could see it. Eyes shut tight, or pried open- that stain wouldn't go away. It was a little too persistent for his tastes. The stains throbbed and bled, and regardless of self-reassurance, it would silence itself for a split second before spilling out more. Licking the wounds wouldn't fix it- it only made them sting, and the blood tasted bitter. That coppery taste still lingered in the back of his throat, and it made him sick. It was all disgusting. No bandage could fix this.

A cold sweat crept down Seiya's neck, and he lay still on his back, while the sheets stuck uncomfortably to his skin. He let his eyes roll to the side, watching the words on the wall convulse and slither. His throat was tight, his eyes were soaked. They stung as the air attempted to dry them.

'ASPHYXIATE'

That word was burnt in deep. And it was a little disappointing to find his previous motivation for a self-revolution had rapidly diminished. Maybe somewhere along the way he had underestimated the enemy. He grunted as he rolled to his side, shoulders cracking. His eyes lowered, and he let his breath loosen a little. "I can't do that...I won't..." Seiya mouthed breathlessly to himself, eyes shut tightly. His nails were digging into the sheets forcefully, like he'd fall if he let go. It'd be too selfish. At least in his mind.

Those black talons continued to choke him. He lay still through it all, eyes kept firmly locked on the ceiling. He just had to numb himself, it couldn't be too difficult. It just felt so...wrong. It felt wrong to emotionally disconnect from any problem. It was indeed his emotion that drove him through everything life threw at him. But mind-numbing wasn't anything new. It was the only way a human could tolerate it all for that long. It was just sad to have to watch those clean emotions slip down the drain. But he wouldn't let his life do the same. He hoped.

Nights started to seem longer in the past few days. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing- the sky was clear, and gave a clean view of the stars. And those quiet 12 hours gave a storm a chance to soothe itself. Seiya cringed as acid reflux scorched his throat.

'_Do it, you piece of shit.' _it hissed in his ear, running its cold clawtips down the side of his face. Seiya froze like a deer in the headlights. A small flame of defiance remained flickering inside him. But what a struggle it was.

_'If it hurts so much, make it stop. Make it stop for good.'_

"You're sick..." Seiya snapped back breathlessly. "You're a sick bastard."

_'And whose fault is that?'_

Seiya let out an inhuman sound, and rolled onto his chest angrily, clawing viciously at his pillow. He clenched his teeth to fight tears. Pathetic. Murmuring, murmuring...scrambled murmurs made him tightly force his hands against his ears. Urges, drives to do the worst, his screams were so silent. Unsettlingly still.

_'Why the fuck do I even try anymore?'_

His body started to break into unbearable heat once more. His eyes clouded up, waters broke and ran down his cheeks. His muscles spasmed, while his throat muscles began to strangle him. He violently jerked forwards, emitting a loud snarl, claws beginning to break the skin of his forehead. A hazy amber light began leaking from his eyes, as his hearing drowned in an aching, flat buzzing. Bile churned in his stomach, stung his throat, and leaked out of his mouth past gnashed fangs. He dropped himself onto the floor, stumbling in the dark in search of the bathroom. His stomach jolted, acid furiously burning his insides and spilling out in torrents, water continuing to stream down his cheeks. He took a trembling hand and cleared his eyes, sight wandering downwards. His breath froze.

It was black.

Who cares.

He stared into the static behind his eyes. His lungs began to steady. Air slipped in, air slipped out, the faint sound of his voice following each breath. Are you okay? You're okay now.

Morning had never been so relieving. He gave himself a stare in his mirror. His eyes were bruised, his skin was pale. Nothing new or surprising. With the lights on, everything held a sort of dull teal tint- on this morning in particular, at least. Very appropriate. Steam filled the tiled room, as glass gradually fogged over to white. Water stung white hot for moments before his skin went numb, while heat thickened the air.

He looked down at himself, water giving his skin a sheen. He ran his fingers over his torso. He had gotten thinner- a sickly kind of thin. His body was even paler than his face. There were small patches of dark, multicolored bruise decorating different parts of him. They only hurt a little bit when you touched them too hard. Little gifts from the ghost.

There was a striking scar across the left side of his chest. It wasn't usually visible- the heat had forced it to reveal itself as a jagged, pale red slash. He let his finger wander across it. Surprisingly, it was cold. Despite his body scorched by the water, this scar remained cold, and held an unsettlingly dark grey paleness. It was sensitive. Memories of Elysion came wandering back, making him cringe with nausea. Why this was, exactly, was another question that remained unanswered, despite his frustrated attempts at deconstructing it all. He felt exhausted. The white noise from the heated rain calmed him with monotony. The warmth was comforting, and the sensation of the water hitting his chilled skin helped a little too. He would've curled up right under the stream right there, in the shallow depths of lukewarm. Maybe cry a little too.

Another glare came to the mirror after clearing the fog with a weakened hand. His skin was flushed. It hid the dark circles under his eyes a little. "So if you're a tiger, why can't you roar with pride?" he asked himself in a bitter murmur.

He stood still for a moment, a slight tremor in his muscles, eyes losing focus, surroundings becoming abstract. Emotions unclear- anger needed a bitter, hateful fire, sadness needed drenched, heavy hurt- paranoia didn't really count as a traditional 'emotion' as such, did it? Well, now it did. It was just kind of dead, and made his stomach churn.

_'This really isn't progressing nicely.'_

His nose wrinkled. Some part of him was sure that somewhere, Hades was watching him with a cold smile. He had always kind of felt that way.

Waves tossing, waves turning. His shoulders hung loose without their perpetual ache for once, lungs freely taking air in as they should. The seaside was a good place for an orphanage. No matter how hopeless or lost the children felt from their gaping lack of a family's arms, the sight of the sea could at least lift their spirits for a little while. Time stretches out forever, and with a little optimism, it could indeed, be traversed. Seiya remembered feeling this way as a child. His gruff attitude would always be soothed by the waves. Not much had really changed since then.

"Seiya, I wish you'd stay at the orphanage more," Makoto held his knees to his chest, rocking softly while sitting beside the older boy. "I get worried when you're away too long. Sometimes I get scared because maybe one day you won't come back," he murmured into his arms. Seiya let the words sink in, shoulders lowering. He pulled Makoto onto his lap, and held him to his chest, arms around him protectively.

"It's okay. Life's pretty unpredictable, but here's something my sister once told me- everything will be okay in the end. And if it's not okay, then it's not the end. Got it?" he said softly. Makoto nodded in response, pushing his head closer to Seiya's chest, quietly listening to his heartbeat.

"Got it," he replied with a grin. "You're the best, Seiya. You're like my big brother."

He smiled. It had been a long time since he was able to hold a title as uplifting. Some respectability remained, then? Or was it just oblivion to the violent coldness inside him that slowly tore him to pieces...? _'Try again later,' _he thought defiantly as he shook off the lurking chill.

And she was really something too. A break from the immortal armies that stormed the Earth. Miho had always been an interesting friend of his. She never expected anything from him, and appreciated him like you would a rare creature. No forced interaction, but kept him company when he wanted to stay, and let him go when he wanted to. And it was the ideal way to have him build trust- he'd let her see the obscured without that constant tremor.

"You always tell me how heroic I am," he began softly, a lazy stride along the pier. "I'm glad you can see it. I struggle, you know. It's kind of dark in here," he said dryly with a subtle smirk, hand lightly running over his chest.

She turned to him, indigo hair caught in a mild breeze, a tiny smirk on her face. "No, believe me. You're dark, alright. I know what you're trying to say, but it's too bad 'dark' is such an attractive trait, these days." she chuckled, hand lifted to her mouth.

He snorted, a short spurt of laughter kicking him in the stomach. "You really speak your mind, huh?" His smile restricted his speech.

She tilted her head, shutting her eyes with a smile. "Just thought you should know, I know you think you're the scum of the earth- that I'll never understand. But you're far from the person you think you are," she mused.

Seiya stopped in his tracks, a quiet and familiar tightness suddenly present in his chest. Brown eyes struck with paranoia, his stance was kept frozen as if he meant to protest, but words were left unspoken. Maybe it's better that way. She took small steps closer to him, gently pulling herself against him, letting her eyelids lower.

"Ever considered that you see yourself through a distorted lens?" she continued in a soft voice. "Anxiety is a little devil. It plays all sorts of tricks. Falling for those tricks is a nasty habit."

Seiya's brain stuttered. A heated pulse surged through his chest, and weakening as it reached the ends of his veins. He let his eyes meet hers, taking a moment to wander through the blue. A response hung in front of him, but right out of his reach, just hanging there and frustrating him.

"Well, you're definitely intuitive."

A grin crept onto her face, while unconsciously curling her arms around his shoulders. She slowly pulled herself forward, lips gently meeting his cheek. Seiya's vision met a blur, a subtle fluttering appeared in his stomach, while his mouth parted in surprise. A giggle escaped Miho's smile.

"Some 'tough guy' you turned out to be," she teased, hand ruffling his fringe. He snapped in protest, swatting her hand away, only to make her giggle more.

"And some 'polite little lady' you were supposed to be," he snorted, scoffing at her over his shoulder for a moment. His body jolted in surprise, feeling something softly hit his backside.

"I thought you weren't the kind to make loose assumptions?" Miho teased, pace increased enough to overtake him. Seiya cocked his eyebrow with a bemused sneer, a hand over his backside in embarrassment.

She was a mischievous blue imp, perhaps a core only Seiya was allowed to see. A mutual share of truths.

Seiya was almost aggressive by nature. As he matured, it was pushed into submission- but since childhood, the angry fire within him had always been very much alive. No one could really have a stable control over themselves after losing both parents and all they had come to know. And it was just that which destroyed him that destroyed his childhood-fire. Angry amber flames, sucking life out of all, reducing to ash.

He would sit alone for the most part, speaking only to his sister. Miho's curiosity had her reach out towards the boy, who responded with a fierce snap. But as his tolerance returned and her courage strengthened, a harmony was born between them. His dark, tattered existence was pricked by light, and her sheltered innocence woke up to the black.

"I can't stand sunsets. I hate them," Miho murmured, swiftly tossing a stone off the edge of the pier, watching it skip and run away into the distance. "Fire lit skies that come with every passing day. Sometimes it's just too much for me,"

Seiya turned his head, eyebrow cocked with a puzzled expression. "How come?"

"Because they make me think of you. And you're hardly ever around these days. I guess I miss your company," she responded with a soft, saddened smile. "I think the sky makes me think of you. Sunrise is white, pure and clear, daylight is blue, open and free, the sunset is an ever-burning wildfire, and the night sky is a black void of glittering light- one you can get lost in easily, but if you know your way around, you find bizarre treasures, ones that no one truly understands,"

The sea breeze cradled his neck. A smirk tugged at his mouth, while his eyes lost themselves in the waves and the gold that painted it. "Maybe I'm a little cloudy, but I struggle to see myself that way," he chuckled dryly.

Miho sighed, snaring her fingers through her hair, giving Seiya a slightly bemused expression. "You're more than cloudy. You're stormy. And I hope it subsides soon," she mused, resting her head on his shoulder.

"No sky's beautiful without a little chaos."

Isolated, that was definitely the word. Everyone had either done their time, or was taking it all on a completely different level. Yes, very isolated! Alone, so alone. No one knows pain like this.

The room was distorting freely. The chair was uncomfortable, to say the least. Black ink was drizzling down the walls, seeping out of the thin cracks lacing where the ceiling met the walls. It slithered like a mighty serpent, convulsing and twisting into bizarrely formed shapes.

'GO', it read.

Seiya blinked. His eyes stung softly, and his jaw ached gently. His lungs slowly took on the inky air, thumb and forefinger to his chin as he pondered the black. Looking to the tiny window in the corner, the iron bars keeping him inside were drooling the same black ink. Tiny spatters of black freely slid across the floor like spiders, curiously analyzing their surroundings. Lazy light seeped inside from behind the bars, letting his shadow stand still against the wall. A dull silhouette, darker at foot and lighter at head. It had its arms folded, almost waiting for something to happen. '_Make your move,_' it insinuated.

Seiya scratched at his hair, expression showing mild nervousness. The milky blueness of the room's atmosphere had become likeable. A break from the usual boiling black acid.

'GO'

His body pulled back in slight displeasure, before he eventually shifted into submission. Standing up hesitantly, his legs were struck with prickling numbness, making him grimace slightly. His vision slipped into fisheye, making the walls bulge in a blur. He rubbed at his forehead, sighing with frustration.

The door in the back of the room waited patiently, still amongst the distortion. With a small turn and click from the knob, he gently pushed it open, wandering out once again into the grey.

Plaster walls again, more wooden doors and golden lining. Night-painted windows, very real as it would generally be. Although his home was peaceful, it got painfully lonely during the night. He felt maybe a little bit guilty about bringing everyone else in the mansion down in his gloomy black cloud. The doors seemed nervous.

What?

Well, something was definitely nervous.

But it was unique. Instead of the familiar, sharp pain that struck him from inside, this was a pained clawing at his skin from outside, from something overshadowed. It lingered in the back of his head. It was tugging angrily at his shoulder, eyes singed under their own tears. It huffed, struggling to swallow, sharing a harsh paranoia Seiya knew like a brother. He shut his eyes, attempting to create a clearer image. It stumbled and staggered on a tiled floor, breath involuntarily escaping its lungs. It grunted and groaned in pain, holding a bleeding wrist. Clearer, clearer. It was a sound. A sound?

"Fuck..."

Seiya's eyes snapped open. No tricks here. Quick on his feet, he took a silent stride to the source. And tiled it was. There was a dim light emitting from behind the bathroom door. A hesitant arm hung suspended for a moment, before he let his fingernail tap the door.

"Uh...? Who's there? Don't come in..."

His eyes slinked up to the small opening, peering with caution. They were quickly shut at meeting thick, acidic air, while his wrist rubbed at the sudden irritation. The sight was a burning emerald, fighting back tears. Pained indeed. Seiya straightened his stance and mind, a gentle nudge gradually pushing the door open with a creak. "Jabu...?"

His boot squealed against the tiles, swinging around with wide eyes and startled breath.  
>"What the hell do you w-" he began, before wincing and biting his lip. He exhaled unsteadily, keeping his right arm pulled firmly behind his back. His blue was stared down by dark amber that gradually began to wander around the scene. Along white, along silver, along bright acidic green, spilled over tiles and running down the sides of the sink Jabu stood over.<p>

Seiya stammered with a frozen expression. "What the hell happened in here...?"

Jabu's eyes scanned around nervously, mouth speaking absentmindedly. "N-nothing..."

"Bullshit," Seiya huffed, a short powerful step moving him forward. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"Piss off," Jabu hissed, fighting a forceful cringe from the burning.

Seiya sneered frustratedly, eyes taking on a brighter hue, fists balling. A swipe of his claws yanked Jabu's guarded arm out and forcefully pinned it against the wall, as Jabu shouted in pained protest. In an instant, Seiya's eyes grew startled, mouth almost hanging. There was a deep, bruised slash streaming across pale flesh. Liquid emerald spilled out, leaving soft burns over tender skin. Seiya stuttered.

"What the...?"

"I was fuckin' around with my pocket knife and accidentally cut myself," Jabu answered under his breath. "And then...I don't know." His eyes lowered in shame.

Seiya's eyes flicked to Jabu's, cocking an eyebrow in doubt, before letting passing grim thoughts diminish.

"I'm afraid to ask what happened _here_, though," he sneered as he shook off green fluid that had strayed onto his hand. He grit his teeth. The burning sensation was phenomenal. "Fall into a toxic waste dump?" he scoffed dryly.

Jabu paused for a moment. "Of sorts," he said blankly, insinuation ever so dark.

Seiya responded with a similar pause, before letting Jabu's arm drop down. "...I see."

Jabu scowled. "Okay Whiskers, you gonna do something or what?"

Seiya's eyebrow raised. "...Whiskers?" he asked softly.

"You're a fuckin' tiger thing- what, would you prefer 'Stripes'?" he sneered. "Whatever. You deal with trippy shit now or something, right? Do something. You're supposed to be all fuckin' amazing and shit, Mr. Bigshot Pegasus saint."

Seiya held his palm against his forehead, exhaling in irritation. "Well, I can see I'm not alone," he snatched Jabu's wrist back, making the other boy sharply gasp at the sudden contact. A quick twist at a silver handle had water quickly stream down onto the throbbing slash, toxic oil quickly losing color and slipping down the drain. A minute of Jabu squirming angrily had passed, until the cut was clear of the ooze. It was an angry pink- but at least it was human.

Jabu sighed, lifting his arm out of the basin, lazily shaking off water. "You...handled that really well..." he spoke in a calmed tone, before flashing a tiny smile. "Thanks...thanks so much..."

Seiya almost did a double take, wide eyes blinking. "Wh-wha?"

"I mean, I dunno if I could've taken that by myself, because I was kind of spooked," Jabu continued brightly, smiling at the boy before him. "You're really focused and you've got a lot of patience and courage. You're kind of admirable."

Seiya's mouth hung open, shoulders tensely raised. "E...Excuse me...?" He barely managed to speak.

Jabu stilled for a moment, and held his breath, before snatching a small towel off its rack, lazily wiping away more acid that started to seep out of the slash. His expression darkened. "I dunno...thanks. Whatever. I'm sure I would've been fine. But you know, you're 'the hero' around here-" He inhaled sharply, before snapping the towel around his cut and squeezing it tightly, as green lightly stained the surface of the fabric. He lifted the towel a few times to check if he had stopped bleeding- fourth time he had stopped. He tossed the towel to the ground, and stuck his hands in his pockets, chest pushed out cockily. Seiya tilted his head.

"What, did I wash your toxic attitude out of you for a moment?"

"Do I look like I have a clue?" Jabu sneered, head turned to the side.

"Yeah."

Jabu eyed Seiya nervously, before exhaling through tense lung. Seiya smirked.

"Envy and anxiety- what a duo we are," Seiya chuckled dryly, playfully swatting the back of Jabu's head. "Welcome to the void. But really, we've been plunged deep inside it for years, haven't we?"

_And in the end, we're all tied together by our skin in a net of our own nerves. It's much to my displeasure to feel such connection to the rest of the people on earth, but at least it's some form of company. Although, it's selfish of me to expect anything of the world anymore. I feel like a pig hanging in a slaughterhouse, and no matter what they do, I just keep living__…_

_It's a unique journey. No angel comes down and says 'Godspeed you', and there's no real victory in the end. And it just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going…keeps going…_

_The machines are still working, beeping away…the tubes aren't leaking anymore…I can see them all moving about behind their shady masks …they've marked off their clipboards, and they're leaving now. I can still smile under the mask they put on me…I'm okay, and I'm still breathing… I might just live another moment of quiet__…_


End file.
